Australia expands processing of rare earths to avoid China

Sydney (Australia), March 16 The Australian government announced on Wednesday a plan to expand the processing of rare earths used by the high-tech industry to circumvent China's dependence. “China currently accounts for 70 to 80% of production and continues to consolidate in the supply chain. This initiative is designed to address these areas,” said Australian Energy Minister Angus Taylor in a statement. Under this plan, Australia will allocate 243 million Australian dollars ($175 million or 160 million euros) to four rare earth processing projects. Australia has a large amount of rare earth minerals, but it does not have the processing capacity because China processes the mineral at a lower cost. It is a region that the United States worries because Beijing threatened to ban the export of these resources during the 2019 bilateral trade war. The revival of the critical minerals and rare earths sector will allow Australia to gain a greater presence in the supply chain related to the production of smartphones, rechargeable batteries, computers, solar panels, electric vehicles, defense and advanced equipment. Nearly half of the funds announced today will be used to build a nickel, manganese, and cobalt battery material refining plant in Western Australia's administrative region in cooperation with Poseidon Nickel at the PCAM center of Pure Battery Technologies. The Australian government also separately announced this Wednesday another fund worth 250 Australian dollars (approximately $180 million or 164 million euros) to accelerate investment in projects that strengthen the country's leadership in the critical minerals sector. First Secretary Scott Morrison said, “The world is becoming a more uncertain place, and we want Australia to be a safe partner for local and global companies that need the important minerals we have. Australia, the world's largest producer of lithium and the second largest producer of zirconium, has the world's largest mineral reserves used in advanced technologies such as aerospace, defense and telecommunications.

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