Government Sponsor
Critical Minerals Office
61 2 6213 6000
The Critical Minerals Office is the Australian Government's central coordination point to:
help grow Australia's critical minerals sector
position Australia globally as a secure, reliable and ethical supplier of critical minerals
Australia has an abundance of critical minerals. We’re the world’s top producer of lithium, the second largest producer of zircon and rare earth elements, and have extensive undiscovered potential.
These metals and non-metals are vital to advanced technology like:
smartphones
computers
solar panels
batteries
electric vehicles
Australia has the opportunity to be a global leader in the ethical and environmentally responsible supply of key critical minerals. Expanding supply and meeting this growing demand is a key part of Australia’s Critical Minerals Strategy.
Enabling and attracting investment
The government encourages foreign investment in Australia’s critical minerals. Major mining companies, junior explorers and financiers can benefit from Australia’s mature mining industry and critical mineral potential.
See information for critical minerals investors.
Partnering internationally on global supply chains
We’re working across government to lead Australia's international critical minerals engagement. Our international partnerships help address supply chain risks, advance research and promote ethical sustainable practice.
This includes:
agreements with the US, India, Republic of Korea, Japan and Canada
a founding member of the Energy Resource Governance Initiative
leading work to set technical standards and ensure good governance
Helping finance prospective critical minerals projects
We help connect critical minerals projects to finance and funding bodies like Export Finance Australia, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. We also connect them with Australia's international partners to secure new investment and commitments to future products (strategic offtake agreements).
See funding and support for critical minerals projects.
Facilitating critical minerals research
We facilitate research and development to:
improve access to Australia's critical mineral reserves
support new separation and downstream processing capacity in Australia
unlock tailings and recycling
We administer a $4.5 million R&D program to boost critical minerals research by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and Geoscience Australia.
Developing a roadmap for the critical minerals sector
We’re leading efforts to build a Critical Minerals Development Roadmap for Australia. The roadmap will better align critical minerals policy across all Australian jurisdictions, and drive a more strategic, national approach to investment.
As part of this project, we’re working with states and territories to:
identify prospective critical minerals hubs and precincts
developing a national ethical certification scheme
Collaborations like these can accelerate new projects and enable mineral value-added activity.