Australia and Germany have signed a joint Declaration of Intent to create a new study, helping to establish new opportunities for critical minerals projects to meet climate and energy targets.
Australian Federal Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Madeleine King, signed the Declaration with Germany’s Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Franziska Brantner, in Perth last week.
The joint study will help Australia develop its industries around critical minerals such as extraction, refinement and recycling, while helping Germany secure reliable supplies of critical minerals to support its own manufacturing and recycling industries.
Australia is home to a plethora of commodities like lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper, which are essential to global decarbonisation.
A recent report on the nation’s mineral reserves by Geoscience Australia ranked the country as the largest producer of lithium in the world. Australia also ranks first in the world for nickel production, third for cobalt, and eighth for copper.
The Declaration of Intent enforces the Australian Government’s commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050.
“Both Australia and Germany recognise the important opportunity we have to build diverse, resilient and sustainable critical minerals value chains,” King said.
“Australia has vast reserves of critical minerals, which are essential components for clean-energy technologies such as electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels and wind turbines.
“Both countries have complementary climate, energy and strategic ambitions. The Declaration of Intent with Germany will help us understand which critical minerals are most important to support Germany’s industries and how Australia can be a partner of choice in meeting these needs.”
Australia and Germany have recent history in critical minerals collaboration.
In the private sector, Arafura Rare Earths recently secured almost $900 million in debt funding for its Nolans project from a German export credit agency Euler Hermes Aktiengesellschaft.
The project is aimed at mining the rare earth elements neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr), two highly sought-after magnet materials.