The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA and its member companies applauds today’s $250 million funding commitment to further develop Australia’s critical minerals sector, as announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Perth.
The funding includes a $200 million accelerator grants program and $50 million to support research and development in strategic growth areas focused on the extraction and value-added processing of critical minerals, which will be essential to meet the global demand for batteries and new energy applications.
CME Director of Policy and Advocacy Rob Carruthers said the focus of the program on early to mid-stage development would be welcome news for proponents of eligible projects.
“It’s well known that critical minerals projects can be complex, capital and resource intensive and carry significant risk during the early project phases,” Mr Carruthers said.
“CME continues to work closely with industry, the Federal Government and State Government to build on Western Australia’s current strengths to leverage opportunities in the critical minerals and battery value chains.
“WA is already the largest producer of mined lithium, a top-five producer of nickel, rare earths and cobalt, and will also be home to refineries producing highly purified lithium, nickel, and rare earth carbonates.
“Our planned and potential resource project pipeline in WA is significant totalling $91 billion. In addition to targeted incentives such as those announced today, it’s critical governments set the right regulatory and competitive settings – removing unnecessary duplication and uncertainty wherever possible.
“The announcements today reflects strong support from the Federal Government and clear confidence in local capability to move further up the value chain in critical minerals.
“The announcements complement the WA State Government’s focus in this area, recognising WA is well placed to leverage its world class resources and expertise to grow participation through the supply chain.”
