NSW is home to some of the world’s most in-demand minerals and metals needed for the world’s clean energy future,and the state is looking to cash in.
They are critical minerals needed for renewable technologies,but a plan to dig them up where the food we eat is grown has been met with fierce resistance from farmers.
The rising global importance of critical minerals has prompted Venture Minerals to change its name to Critica as it pushes ahead with its Jupiter deposit in WA.
The collapse in lithium prices has crushed full-year profits at Australia’s leading producer,Pilbara Minerals,and denied shareholders any dividends.
Big investors with deep pockets have backed the government’s $22.7 billion Future Made in Australia scheme,but a political brawl could stall its development.
Double the energy for the same size is the goal for the next generation of rechargeable batteries. Batteries that Australia hopes to make at home.
The world’s largest lithium producer will slash production of the battery ingredient in WA,prompting the federal government to consider bringing forward planned assistance.
There are fears that a second Trump presidency could slow the rollout of electric cars and renewables,softening demand for Australia’s critical minerals.
An Australian miner is hoping to change the playbook on critical minerals,warning that China’s stranglehold of the sector is an existential threat to Western countries.
Partial nationalisation of a vast lithium project in Chile is the latest move by developed and developing countries to prevent China from locking up the mineral supply critical to its dominance of the world’s battery industry.
Jim Chalmers said the decision was made in order to “protect our national interest” as the government sharpens its focus on supply chain security.