The US and Australia have signed a deal anticipated to increase supplies of rare earths and other critical minerals. The move is a way for the Trump administration to counter China's dominance of the market.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the deal would support a pipeline of $8.5bn (A$13bn; £6.3bn) "ready-to-go" projects that would expand his country's mining and processing abilities, according to BBC.
The deal includes $1bn to be invested by the two countries in projects over the next six months.
According to a press statement from the White House, the objective is to assist both countries in achieving resilience and security of critical minerals and rare earths supply chains, including mining, separation, and processing.
“The Participants are intensifying their cooperative efforts to accelerate the secure supply of critical minerals and rare earths necessary to support manufacturing of defense and advanced technologies and their respective industrial bases, including by leveraging existing policy tools such as the United States’ industrial demand and stockpiling infrastructure and Australia’s Critical Mineral Strategic Reserve”, the White House press statement adds.
The US and Australia “will jointly identify projects of interest to address gaps in priority supply chains”.
The deal is also about permitting. “The Participants are taking measures to accelerate, streamline, or deregulate permitting timelines and processes, including to obtain permits for critical minerals and rare earths mining, separation, and processing within their respective domestic regulatory systems, consistent with applicable law”, the White House press statement reads.
