PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The federal government has unveiled a critical minerals strategy that maps out a vision for the exploration, extraction, production and processing of critical minerals in Australia.

Resources and Northern Australia Minister Matt Canavan said there were significant economic opportunities for Australia as global demand for critical minerals grew.

“Investing in critical minerals supports the nation’s economy and will create more jobs for Australians by growing our resources sector,” Canavan said.

“Australia has abundant critical minerals, a world-class resources sector and a strongly supportive government, essential to positioning ourselves as a reliable and secure international supplier of many critical minerals.

“The strategy highlights the extensive work already under way and sets out actions the government is taking to strengthen Australia’s critical minerals industry by targeting the three ‘i's – investment, innovation and infrastructure – to remove barriers for the sector.”

Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister Simon Birmingham said Australia was uniquely placed to capture the value on offer through rising global demand for critical minerals.

”We have some of the world’s richest stocks of critical minerals and while the market for some of our minerals such as lithium is relatively mature, other minerals markets such as cobalt remain largely underdeveloped in Australia,” Birmingham said.

“We’ve got the stocks, we have the potential and now we need to develop the downstream and high-value activities right here in Australia such as processing and manufacturing.

“With critical minerals driving much of the innovation and technological development in industries such as defence, space, energy and advanced manufacturing, there are huge economic opportunities here in Australia.

“Our next challenge is about attracting and locking-in domestic and overseas investment needed to actually get projects off the ground that will take our sector to the next level.

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) on Thursday welcomed the government’s initiatives to increase investment opportunities in critical minerals, with CEO Tania Constable noting that despite an abundance of resources, investment in the next wave of base metal and critical commodity mines and processing plants is not guaranteed, as Australia faces growing competition to attract the international capital the resources industry needs to convert this potential into lasting economic benefits.

“Government investment in innovation, skills and investment promotion is valuable, but more needs to be done.”