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Inside the CMI Hitlist: The Five Critical Minerals Shaping Global Supply Chains https://bit.ly/3NlcFM1 cc: @In8News #criticalminerals @investornewsX @CriticalMnlInst

Writing in The Australian on Australia's critical minerals strategy, UTS:ACRI Director James Laurenceson states that "the criticism that Australia is not delivering as an ally and a strategic partner is misplaced. In fact, the evidence points in precisely the opposite direction: it’s Australia that’s being sold short."   "[U]pstream, Australia is delivering in spades... The real problem is that Australia’s strategic partners aren’t delivering on their end of the supply chain further downstream. Any viable Australian critical minerals project must first and foremost have a market to sell to. The irony is that the market most responsible for driving the development of Australia’s critical minerals sector is China’s. Consider lightly processed lithium spodumene, Australia’s most valuable critical mineral export in 2023, worth $US13.3bn ($20.5bn). Nearly all of it goes to China. This doesn’t reflect strategic laziness, much less duplicity. While China’s total purchases of lithium spodumene last year stood at $US15.8bn, Australia’s strategic partners imported just $US1.1bn collectively." Read: https://bit.ly/4dfTizQ

Be sure not to miss Critical Minerals International Alliance’s Olimpia Pilch's excellent piece for Innovation News Network published yesterday on the outlook for Australia's critical minerals strategy👇 As a crucial international player in the critical minerals markets, how 🇦🇺 manages the issues she covers in this piece will have definitive impact on global markets. In it, she analyses the current dilemma 🇦🇺 is facing with international markets, not least its major trading partner 🇨🇳. Here are some of the thornier issues she covers: ➡ Turbulent international markets: China's economic downturn in 2023, sluggish tech production rate, and electric vehicles market plummeting (fuelled by China's over-capacity), all negatively impacted investor activity in 🇦🇺 markets ("Troubles in China spell troubles for down under"). ➡ Midstream focus: with China dominant globally in the midstream, all eyes are on the 🇦🇺 Government Critical Minerals Strategy to beef up midstream capacity with more resources, not least by 'de-risking' in order to attract more private sector investment. ➡ Foreign investment: 🇦🇺 Treasury has committed AU$2.2m to developing "more sophisticated ways" to monitor and track foreign investment patterns (#austroidcorporation 🇨🇳 👀 ). ➡ ESG: despite 🇦🇺's manifest credentials in this space (political stability, policy certainty, rule of law, government accountability and transparency etc), there are still issues over corporate governance and indigenous issues. That said, she points out that many 🇦🇺 projects have "outstanding" ESG standards, particularly on 'Benefit Sharing" with First Nations. ➡ Investor ROI v national geostrategic interests: crucially, if the 🇦🇺 Government is to address all the issues above, public-private partnerships will be key, not least to break the stranglehold 🇨🇳 has on the midstream (quite correctly explained as the real 'value-add' in the supply chain). And as 🇨🇳 cost of capital is swifter and cheaper than its competitors, "the government must provide some form of counterbalance to international market distortions and geopolitical fallouts". The conundrum is clear: "the difficulty lies in striking a balance to avoid moving too far away from free-market values" 👈 The reality is that "globally, price remains king – and so do returns on investment." Balancing responsibility, remaining competitive, and "bridging the gap" between government intervention and free-market ideals is the challenge 🇦🇺 faces. Don't miss this piece 👇 #geopolitics #australia #criticalminerals #economicdiplomacy #geostrategy #greentransition

World Economic Forum - Whitepaper: Are Critical Minerals the New Oil? The energy transition will cause big shifts in dependencies – away from oil and other fossil fuels, and towards a raft of critical minerals such as lithium and copper. Will this trading of places lead to politically and environmentally dangerous futures? This paper offers a broad framework for answering this question. It also suggests that most of the feared new dependencies on critical minerals can be managed. Most of the policy concerns about critical minerals have been around fears that supplies won’t keep pace with soaring demand and that raw and processed critical materials are overly concentrated in a few countries, notably China. For most critical minerals, however, there hasn’t been much incentive to expand or diversify supplies radically. That is now changing, and adequate new supplies will plausibly appear, with the probable exception of copper, a mineral with a long history of supply struggles. Critical minerals and oil have notably different demand factors. For oil, the global economy has little ability to temper demand quickly in response to shortages or manipulations in supply. Some big oil suppliers are responsive to state interests when they make investment and production decisions, which at times helps them manipulate supplies. By contrast, most critical minerals are used only when new projects are built. With the right policies in place, demand can be highly responsive. Suppliers, knowing this, are less likely and able to corner the market. Moreover, most mineral suppliers respond principally to market conditions, rather than state interest. The risks to the global economy that the clean energy transition will create geopolitical tensions over critical minerals – as has happened thus far with oil – are not as great as feared so long as the market forces that govern supply and demand are properly harnessed. Innovation can also help temper demand, as has happened with cobalt where worries about dependence on slave labour have led innovators to find alternatives to the mineral and to identify new sources of supply. This report identifies an array of “no regrets” policy initiatives that can help ensure that “trading places” does not have adverse economic and environmental consequences. Among these is helping markets operate more effectively, such as by creating more transparency of data about transactions and the encouragement of forward markets that will make it easier to signal scarcity and finance new supplies. #copper #cobalt #nickel #lithium #graphite #rareearths #mining #minerals #energy #transition

"According to one estimate, to reach net-zero targets by 2040, 1 million metric tons of copper must be added each year—equivalent to annual copper production from Chile’s Escondida mine, the world’s largest copper mine, which is responsible for nearly 10 percent of global output. But while increasing production is an important goal in its own right, ensuring that production makes its way into the hands of refiners and end users is equally crucial... While Latin American countries mine a substantial share of the world’s strategic mineral commodities, most of the strategic and value-added processing, refining, and downstream manufacturing operations are undertaken far afield from the region. The high geographic concentration of mineral-processing facilities in China make it the dominant producer of refined mineral components; it is the top export destination for Brazilian, Chilean, Panamanian, and Peruvian minerals... To minimize potential supply chain disruptions and increase resilience, the United States and allies should craft policies that mobilize the private sector to develop value chains within the hemisphere." #csis #supplychain #nearshoring https://lnkd.in/g8iHqAKs

Critical minerals down under: Can Australia lead the world’s critical minerals charge? Olimpia Pilch, Co-Founder and Senior Advisor of the Critical Minerals Association Australia, considers the outlook for Australian critical minerals, navigation of turbulent markets, crucial policy changes, and international significance. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eMN_PeS5 #australia #criticalminerals #criticalrawmaterials #batterymetals #markets #policy #energytransition

Inside the CMI Hitlist: The Five Critical Minerals Shaping Global Supply Chains https://bit.ly/3NlcFM1 cc: @In8News #criticalminerals @investornewsX @CriticalMnlInst

China currently accounts for two-thirds of the world's critical minerals processing capacity, but its dominance is waning. The demand for critical minerals like cobalt, graphite, and lithium is expected to increase six-fold by 2050 due to the adoption of green technologies. Countries like the United States, Australia, Myanmar, and Thailand are emerging as significant players in critical minerals production, challenging China's monopoly. https://lnkd.in/dUfTXKKt

The pace of announcements by Western governments to bolster the critical minerals supply chain this week has been remarkable. Initiatives like the MSP and the EU’s SAFE framework are unified in their demand for responsible and sustainable production. This focus is not just about securing supply, but ensuring it is developed in a way that aligns with the values of modern society. As highlighted in Sovereign Metals’ latest update, meeting these evolving standards is not optional; it's a business imperative. The company’s commitment to responsible rutile production in Malawi positions it perfectly to support global supply chain resilience while adhering to these stringent new requirements. It's encouraging to see such alignment between industry efforts and government frameworks as we navigate this transformative phase for the sector. #CriticalMinerals #SustainableMining #ResponsibleProduction

There is no #energytransition and no #energysecurity without #criticaminerals. And there are no critical minerals for #evbatteries and #renewables without bold, efficient government policy. With a few exceptions, there is broad political consensus in Canada, U.S., U.K., Australia and Europe that the world needs new #mines and more #minerals - quickly. Yet #mining is running into the same walls that slow down the growth of other natural resources. So how are governments doing? Read this editorial from The Economist #canpoli #uspolitics #cdnpoli #nickel #copper #cobalt #lithium #graphite