MINERAL INDUSTRIES – AUSTRALIA

US interested in critical minerals deal

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 15-Oct-25

Trade Minister Don Farrell recently met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Malaysia; he says Greer indicated that the US is interested in striking a deal with Australia regarding critical minerals. The issue is set to be a key issue on the agenda when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese holds talks with President Donald Trump at the White House next week. The federal government remains hopeful that it can use critical minerals as ‘leverage’ in tariff negotiations. The US has imposed a 50 per cent tariffs on Australia’s aluminium and steel imports, and the baseline tariff of 10 per cent on other imports.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF COMMERCE

Australia can play key role in global supply of rare earths

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 24 : 17-Apr-25

Federal Resources Minister Madeline King recently called for Australia to establish a strategic reserve of critical minerals. However, King did not name terbium and dysprosium, which are crucial for the defence sector and which will now be subject to export controls by China. King also did not mention that although Australia has terbium and dysprosium deposits, the nation does not currently produce these minerals. Meanwhile, Haoma Mining’s rare earth ore bodies at Bamboo Creek in the Pilbara carry some of the highest grades of terbium and dysprosium in the world. Gold will first be extracted via the Elazac process, which greatly assists the economics. The high content of terbium and dysprosium in the remaining material can potentially be treated several ways. The Bamboo Creek ore also contains lutetium and yttrium, which are important in lutetium-based prostate cancer treatments.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESOURCES, HAOMA MINING NL

Action-packed year tipped for lithium deals

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 17-Dec-24

Mergers and acquisitions activity in Australia’s critical minerals sector has been subdued in 2024; there have been just 25 such deals, compared with 49 in the previous calendar year. However, the total value of deals in the sector has risen from $5.3bn in 2023 to $14.8bn in the year to date. Law firm Allens is upbeat about the outlook for the critical minerals sector in 2025, forecasting an upturn in M&A activity that will flow through to other resources commodities.

CORPORATES
ALLENS

Action-packed year tipped for lithium deals

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Original article by Alex Gluyas
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 17-Dec-24

Mergers and acquisitions activity in Australia’s critical minerals sector has been subdued in 2024; there have been just 25 such deals, compared with 49 in the previous calendar year. However, the total value of deals in the sector has risen from $5.3bn in 2023 to $14.8bn in the year to date. Law firm Allens is upbeat about the outlook for the critical minerals sector in 2025, forecasting an upturn in M&A activity that will flow through to other resources commodities.

CORPORATES
ALLENS

‘PM’s war’: The miner explosion

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Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 10-Sep-24

Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable has told a mining dinner attended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other senior cabinet ministers that the mining sector wants co-operation and not conflict, but she claimed that conflict is what will result from the federal government’s new workplace laws. She said that the new laws will mean that conflict is coming to every workplace, and that the new laws are one of the ways by which the government is seeking to punish the mining sector for its success, along with raids on mining royalties, the "looming threat of onerous and arbitrary environmental approvals", new regulation and a range of restrictive policies.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Investment tax break call falls on deaf ears

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Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 19-Jun-24

The federal government has declined to state its position on whether companies with links to China will be eligible to receive production tax credits. Resources Minister Madeleine King says the main purpose of this incentive is to encourage the downstream processing of critical minerals in Australia. She acknowledged that China-based Tianqi is doing this at its Kwinana lithium processing plant in Western Australia. Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited the plant on Tuesday, accompanied by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Li has told China’s state-run media that he hopes for a "fair and non-discriminatory" business environment for Chinese companies that have assets in Australia.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESOURCES, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, TIANQI LITHIUM CORPORATION

ALP holding us back: miners

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 9-Jan-24

Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable says the federal government is "taking the resources sector for granted" and its policy settings are aimed at making the industry anti-competitive. She has called for major government support for the resources sector to ensure that Australia continues to be attractive to investors. Constable adds that the government needs to support the sector as a whole, rather than focusing on critical minerals. Analysis shows that 72 coal, iron ore and oil and gas projects have been shelved, delayed or failed to progress in the last 12 months.

CORPORATES
MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Australia’s critical minerals crunch

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 25-May-23

The issue of processing rare earths and critical minerals in Australia was a key issue of discussion at a mining summit in Perth on Wednesday. Iluka Resources MD Tom O’Leary flagged the potential for a domestic critical minerals reservation, which would allow projects to be approved on the condition that a certain proportion of the output would have to be processed in Australia. He noted that a similar gas reservation scheme has been successful in Western Australia. Former WA premier Richard Court in turn suggested that state governments could encourage increased downstream processing of critical minerals by introducing differential royalty rates.

CORPORATES
ILUKA RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX ILU

China to be cut from critical minerals deals

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Original article by Peter Ker, Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 13-Apr-23

The federal government will shortly release its critical minerals strategy. Resources Minister Madeleine King will use a speech on Thursday to indicate that this strategy will push back against the "concentration" of critical minerals processing in China. She will also state that "like-minded" foreign investors will be welcome to back the nation’s critical minerals projects, and emphasise that such investment will be needed to develop new projects in the sector. However, Global Lithium’s MD Ron Mitchell says the government must remember that China is a very important trading partner, and rather than excluding China, it could offer incentives for miners that secure deals and supply agreements with allied nations.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESOURCES, GLOBAL LITHIUM RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX GL1

Big banks to miss future facing mining boom

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Original article by Elouise Fowler
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 27 : 5-Apr-23

Tribeca Investment Partners portfolio manager John Stover says Australia’s major banks are not prepared for the new commodities boom that is being driven by critical minerals. The four major banks’ combined lending to the resources sector peaked at $64.7bn in 2015, but data from Bridgend Capital Advisory shows that this has since fallen by $25bn. Stover notes that many banks significantly reduced their mining and resources teams when the last commodities boom ended; this has left them with a dearth of skills, particularly with regard to commodities that will be vital to the transition to a low-carbon economy.

CORPORATES
TRIBECA INVESTMENT PARTNERS PTY LTD, BRIDGEND CAPITAL ADVISORY