Published: October 27, 2022 |

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The Australian Government has approved a series of grants to accelerate the development of the critical minerals resources industry as part of our efforts to reach net zero.

Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King said the Government is delivering $50 million in grants to six key projects to unlock the potential of Australia’s critical minerals sector.

The projects will also bolster development across Northern Australia, generate new jobs, and drive regional economic growth.

“Australia has the potential to become a major global supplier of critical minerals and rare earths which will be essential to help Australia and the world transition to low-emissions technology and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The grants will accelerate early and mid-stage projects, driving new investment in our processing and manufacturing capabilities as we develop our critical minerals sector,” Minister King said.

“Australia has vast reserves of critical minerals which are crucial to batteries and electric vehicles, as well as the medical equipment production, defense, aerospace, automotive, and agritech industries. These junior projects, should they be successful in scaling up to full production, will help diversify global critical minerals supply chains,” King added.

The grant recipients are:

• Alpha HPA Ltd: $15.5 million for its ‘HPA First’ Product Expansion Project to add new capabilities to the ultra-pure aluminium chemical plant being developed near Gladstone, Queensland. The project will produce materials for the lithium-ion battery and synthetic sapphire markets;

• Cobalt Blue Holdings: $15 million to accelerate a definitive feasibility study for its Broken Hill Cobalt project, including final engineering designs, drilling for further resource definition, to produce intermediate and battery ready cobalt products in Australia;

• EQ Resources Ltd.: $6 million for tungsten production through recovering mine waste and reactivating open-pit mining in Mount Carbine, Queensland for use in metal alloys for defense, transport, and other applications;

• Global Advanced Metals Pty Ltd.: $4 million for a Tantalum and Tin Recovery Plant at Greenbushes in Western Australia, increasing the volume of tantalum that is produced in Australia.

• Lava Blue: Up to $5.24 million for its project to develop modular re-processing technology to recover high-purity alumina, magnesium and other critical minerals from vanadium mine waste, which will increase product recovery and help to diversify production into new materials; and

• Mineral Commodities Ltd.: $3.94 million for developing an Australian integrated graphite ore-to-battery anodes business, producing battery grade graphite, based in Munglinup, Western Australia.

Minister King said the grants would support more than 500 new jobs in regional and northern Australia.

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