Australia prioritises military minerals in strategic reserve
Australia prioritises military minerals in strategic reserve New details of the $1.2b Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve (CMSR) are emerging with the Federal Government confirming antimony, gallium and rare earth elements as early priorities. The announcement comes as Treasurer Jim Chalmers is scheduled to join a G7 meeting focused on critical minerals in Washington DC this Friday. In recent years, China’s dominance in the critical minerals sector has been a focal point of ongoing geopolitical tensions — particularly affecting G7 countries including the US and Japan. With the development of the CMSR, the Federal Government is looking to leverage its abundant critical mineral reserves to diversify supply chains and shift China’s dominance. “The world needs critical minerals — Australia has plenty of them and our critical minerals reserve will help us weather global economic uncertainty and help to boost trade and investment,” Treasurer Chalmers said. "Ensuring we have a reliable reserve of these critical resources will strengthen supply chains and help to stabilise critical minerals markets.” The CMSR will secure rights to minerals produced in Australia and on-selling those rights to meet demand, giving an added boost to the critical minerals sector and strengthening reliable supply chains for trading partners Larvotto Resources (ASX: LRV), the developer of Australia’s largest antimony deposit, has voiced its support of the Federal Government’s plan. Larvotto managing director Ron Heeks says the Federal Government’s prioritisation of antimony validates the strategic importance of the company’s Hillgrove project in NSW. “Australia benefits from having a rich supply of critical minerals with the resources and expertise to produce these minerals responsibly,” he said. “The strategic reserve supports the strong investment into the Hillgrove project and reinforces the importance of progressing final approvals efficiently as we move towards production in mid-2026.” Despite the urgency for diversification, Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King says Australia faces a long road to revenue with government seeking support for the industry which faces weak pricing and high startup capital. “ the investment the Government is making in supporting the industry itself will be job-creating, both in the extraction side of the sector, but also in advanced processing and advanced manufacturing into the future,” she said. "There’ll be many upsides, it won’t be revenue upside in the immediate term. “ the outcome is yet to be determined, what we would hope for and have always advocated for is greater cooperation and collaboration with our international partners.” With a similar reliance on antimony, gallium and rare earths, the US has emerged as a major investor in the development of Australia’s critical minerals sector following the signing of a $13b critical minerals agreement between the countries in October last year. Minister King says that Australia as a nation is always dependent on international investments to build its industries and, despite the US’ recent interest in pursuing deposits in Greenland, Australia remains the superior choice for US investment. “Australia is recognised around the world as a globally important initiative into mineral exploration,” she said. “In the immediate, short to medium term, Australia is a much more desirable location for extracting and processing minerals.”
CELEBRATING another achievement, ThyssenKrupp has secured a contract with Kalumbila Minerals, a subsidiary of Canadian-based First Quantum Minerals, to perform primary crushing at the company’s new Sentinel mine in Zambia.
