Australia and US Formalize Partnership on Rare Earths, Critical Minerals

On rare earths and critical minerals, Australia and the US have formalized their partnership on developing both nations' critical mineral assets. Geoscience Australia and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) signed a project agreement.

The signing of the agreement paves the way for closer understanding between the two nations in geological resource potential for key minerals, including the potential of rare earth elements, and also establishes a way to ensure supply.

Matt Canavan, the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia said that this is the beginning of a strong new partnership between the two nations, which would benefit both nations.

Minister Canavan said that this is a partnership that would deliver opportunity and security to both nations. The United States needs key minerals, while the country has abundant key mineral resources. The growth of global demand for crucial minerals means that there is scope to a large extent for Australia to develop a secure and stable chain to meet the growing demand for key minerals in major economies such as the US.

In early 2018, the two nations announced cooperation on rare earths and critical minerals and signed a wealth of memoranda of understanding. The Australian government has launched some initiatives to tap the potential of critical mineral markets.

Earlier this year, the Australian government announced a Critical Minerals Strategy, to coordinate activities across government, promoted investment, improved necessary infrastructure, and pushed new key minerals projects into production.

The country announced a Critical Minerals Supply Chain in the United States report in October, reinforcing the importance of the country continuing to attract investment in high value-added industries such as processing and manufacturing.

The new agreement focuses on joint critical mineral potential mapping and quantitative mineral assessments, determining geological controls on critical mineral distribution, and cultivating on analysis capabilities of critical mineral supply chain data model.

The Western Australian Chamber of Minerals and Energy welcomed the critical mineral cooperation between the two nations. The chairman of the Chamber, Paul Everingham, said that this had the potential to lead to the construction of new rare earths mines and promote trade between the two countries.

Australian projects on rare earths account for more than half of the world, and Western Australia could become a major source supplier for critical minerals worldwide. The partnership between the two nations could help the US to ease its minerals tension.

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