{"id":8326,"date":"2023-08-04T18:10:54","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T08:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yinghuiinternational.com\/?p=8326"},"modified":"2023-08-04T18:10:57","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T08:10:57","slug":"australias-critical-minerals-conundrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yinghuiinternational.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/04\/australias-critical-minerals-conundrum\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s critical minerals conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

\"\"TOM PARKER<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"BHP<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

BHP’s Nickel West operations in WA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BHP understands Australia\u2019s significant critical minerals<\/a> opportunity, but it also recognises there are hurdles the local mining sector must overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As BHP president Australia Geraldine Slattery explained at a recent American Chamber of Commerce<\/a> event, Australia will have to approach its critical minerals future differently to its previous iron ore and coal plunders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnlike Australia\u2019s iron ore and metallurgical coal endowment \u2013 which were found in large quantities and close to the surface \u2013 our critical mineral resources, particularly nickel and copper, are deeper or more remote or individually smaller in scale,\u201d Slattery said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis can make them more complex and more expensive per tonne to produce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTake copper<\/strong>. Australia has significant copper resources, and the potential to be a significant copper player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe South Australia copper province is a case in point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slattery said that while South Australia boasts its fair share of high-grade copper deposits, they are deep beneath the surface and require underground mining methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c(But) in Chile, one of Australia\u2019s key competitors, copper endowments are larger in scale, closer to the surface \u2013 allowing for open-pit mining methods,\u201d Slattery said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis translates to a higher cost-per-tonne to develop and operate copper mines in Australia, despite our high-grade endowment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia is also facing competition regarding its nickel future<\/strong>, with Indonesia a premier jurisdiction for the mining and processing of the battery metal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAustralia has high quality resources, and one of the largest nickel reserves in the world,\u201d Slattery said. \u201cHowever, we face stiff competition from Indonesia\u2019s large nickel reserves that are more accessible and can be extracted through open-pit methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd Indonesia is highly motivated to aggressively invest in technologies to produce nickel at scale and do so sustainably.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In discussing this reality, Slattery demonstrated the fact there won\u2019t be the same ease in developing critical mineral deposits in Australia as it was for iron ore and coal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, Australia has many large, high-quality resource endowments,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we cannot afford to assume that we will have the same degree of comparative advantage in critical minerals as we have enjoyed in iron ore and metallurgical coal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs I said before: it all starts with the rocks \u2013 the quality and quantity of deposits and the degree of difficulty and cost involved in extracting those deposits drives the investment decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subscribe to <\/em>Australian Resources & Investment<\/em><\/a> and receive the latest news on commodity prices, resource developments, executive movements and more.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TOM PARKER BHP’s Nickel West operations in WA. BHP understands Australia\u2019s significant critical minerals opportunity, but it also recognises there are hurdles the local mining sector must overcome. As BHP president Australia Geraldine Slattery explained at a recent American Chamber of Commerce event, Australia will have to approach its critical minerals future differently to its previous iron ore and … Continue reading “Australia\u2019s critical minerals conundrum”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mines-and-quarry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p83F9T-2ai","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8391,"url":"https:\/\/yinghuiinternational.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/28\/intergenerational-report-maps-out-minings-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":8326,"position":0},"title":"Intergenerational report maps out mining\u2019s future","author":"yinghui","date":"August 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"ALEXANDRA EASTWOOD The Federal Government has released the 2023 Intergenerational Report, showing that Australia\u2019s mining sector is set to benefit from the critical minerals push. 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