Critical Minerals StrategySACOME calls for the development of a South Australian Critical Minerals Strategy to aid the development of critical mineral projects in the State.
Global demand for critical minerals is increasing and driven by significant growth in markets for complex technologies such as defence, space, electric vehicles, and renewables. This presents huge untapped economic opportunities for South Australia which has an abundance of critical mineral wealth, including 80% of Australia’s battery grade graphite resources and large quantities of lithium, cobalt, manganese, and nickel.
The national impetus for development of critical mineral projects is evident in the Federal Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy and funding of rare earths and battery projects as part of its $1.3 billion modern manufacturing initiative. This provides an opportunity for South Australia to capitalise on Commonwealth investment, move existing projects to production and encourage greater levels of exploration for new critical resources. SACOME acknowledges recent State Government funding of $2.5 million over 2 years to deliver new geological critical mineral datasets for this state. This is long overdue and will help ensure South Australia’s critical mineral deposits are recognised and well understood. To build on this, SACOME calls for the development of a South Australian Critical Minerals Strategy to be expediated to align with opportunities in critical minerals project development, research and development activity, advanced manufacturing and relating upstream processing activity. |