Australia has some of the world’s largest reserves of lithium, cobalt and rare earths. The Australian Government is committed to fast-tracking the exploration, extraction, processing, and value-adding of these minerals. It actively supports the development of projects across Australia.
The Australian Critical Minerals Prospectus is one way Austrade helps facilitate investment in critical minerals. The Prospectus showcases 55+ investment-ready projects across Australia. These projects have significant potential to address anticipated production shortfalls. They also help build supply chain security, and deliver on a net zero future.
Use the cards below to learn more about why Australia is an ideal location for critical minerals, how the Australian Government is supporting the industry, or go straight to the Prospectus.
Critical minerals and strategic materials are essential components of transformative technologies. This includes:
These technologies will drive Australia’s ambitions to become a renewable energy superpower, and global energy partner of choice.
The critical minerals market has seen rapid growth over the past 5 years. It is expected to grow between two and fourfold by 2030[1]. There is also a need to diversify our trade. This is to avoid vulnerabilities arising from volatile prices or highly concentrated supply chains.
Australia is well positioned to meet this growing demand. We can become a globally significant, secure, and responsible supplier of raw and processed minerals, with benefits such as:
[1] IEA (2023) World Energy 2023, IEA Paris
The Australian Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy 2023-2030 outlines Australia’s vision, objectives and focus areas. This ensures we can seize the opportunities of the clean energy transition. Implementation of the Strategy includes:
The Australian Government publishes a Critical Minerals List consisting of metallic or non-metallic materials. These materials are essential to modern technologies, economies and national security, and whose supply chains are vulnerable to disruption.
The list was first identified in 2019 with 24 critical minerals, expanding to 26 in 2022. In December 2023, arsenic, fluorine, molybdenum, selenium, and tellurium were added.
Nickel is an important element utilised in steel making and energy storage technologies. It is notably used in precursors for lithium-ion batteries, and in alloys for wind turbines and solar production. Nickel is critical to the global net zero transition.
Nickel was added to the list in February 2024. This means companies will have access to critical minerals-specific Australian Government financing and incentives. This also supports nickel producers to compete fairly in international markets.
There are 31 minerals in total. See the Australia’s Critical Minerals List and Strategic Materials List for more.
In December 2023, alongside the Critical Minerals List revision, the Australian Government also released a Strategic Materials List. This list consists of minerals important for the global net zero transition and broader strategic applications. These applications are in demand for our international partners. However, their supply chains are not currently vulnerable enough to be considered critical minerals.
The Strategic Materials List includes aluminium, copper, phosphorous, tin, and zinc.
These minerals are not eligible for the Australian Government’s critical minerals support and finance. However, the Government will continue supporting the extraction and processing of these minerals and monitoring their market developments.
Map courtesy of Geoscience Australia
Get more information on a project or company. Find out about investment-ready opportunities in the Australian Critical Minerals Prospectus.
