Ambassador Gabriele Visentin

EU Ambassador urges Australia to make investment easier

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Reuters is reporting that the EU Ambassador in Australia, speaking at the Minerals Week Conference in Canberra, Australia, urged the country to make foreign financial investment simpler. Ambassador Gabriele Visentin said EU financial investment in Australia was already big, and the bloc aspired to grow the level of investment, especially when it comes to investing in the sourcing of critical raw materials, such as lithium, cobalt and nickel.

As we know in the German Australia Business Council, Australia is abundant in critical minerals. These are particularly important for the transition to cleaner energy. Currently, China has a dominant position in the supply of those materials.

In May 2024, the EU and Australia signed a memorandum of understanding to comply more carefully crucial and strategic minerals as the EU tries to diversify its providers away from China and Russia and change its economy to reduce carbon emissions.

Australia and the EU have been negotiating a free trade agreement since 2018, although a deal remains elusive. Talks, however, were halted last October after Australia rejected an offer which did not sufficiently open European farming markets for Australian exports.

Mining

Australian critical minerals projects in the global spotlight

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The Australian Government has launched a new digital Critical Minerals Prospectus, showcasing more than 55 investment-ready projects to potential investors and buyers from around the world. The digital Prospectus features an interactive online map, shining a spotlight on the investment-ready projects across Australia’s critical minerals landscape.

The tool can be customised to navigate Australia’s rich and diverse mineral endowment, and a range of available government support, including potential funding for Australian critical minerals projects. Australia has an abundance of critical minerals needed to build essential components, for things like electric vehicles, solar panels, hydrogen technology and batteries.

The Government is also incentivising investment in critical minerals projects through a range of programs, including the $4 billion Critical Minerals Facility and the recently announced $7 billion Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive.

The interactive Australian Critical Minerals Prospectus is available here.

Speaking at the launch, the Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell, highlighted that “Australia is ready and willing to meet the growing global demand for critical minerals, and we welcome international investment in key projects across the country. The new online Prospectus shines a spotlight on over 55 investor-ready projects which will attract the investment we need to build new industries, create more jobs, and become a renewable energy superpower.” The Minister for Resources, Madeleine King, added “Critical minerals are vital for the global efforts to reduce emissions and becoming increasingly important inputs for the defence industry. Australia’s resources industry has been developed with foreign investment, and we need overseas investment to build our critical minerals industry”

Australia – not (yet) a powerhouse for critical raw materials

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The Economist in a recent article reports that Australia, despite its rich reserves of critical minerals like lithium and rare earths, faces major challenges in becoming a global powerhouse for supplying critical raw materials, required by industry in the transition to net zero.

Key obstacles highlighted in the article include the current dominance of China in refining and processing the materials. Australia currently relies on the export of materials and has not yet fully developed its own processing capabilities. The article concludes that there is also a need for more investment in infrastructure.

For more details, you can read the full article here.

Madeleine King

Australian Minister for Resources, Madeleine King, in Europe

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Australian Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Madeleine King, is currently in Europe to promote Australia as a reliable supplier of critical minerals to support global efforts to reach net-zero.  Minister King will hold bilateral talks with ministerial counterparts from Germany, the EU, France and the UK, and will participate in the inaugural International Energy Agency (IEA) Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Summit on September 28 in Paris.

Talks will involve industry representatives from across Europe and the UK, including Europe’s automotive industry, which will need more critical minerals to manufacture electric vehicles.

“Australia has the critical minerals the world needs to help lower emissions, and we have well-established export supply chains built over decades through our iron ore and gas industries,” Minister King said.

“Australia’s resources sector also has high environmental and social governance standards (ESG), and a global reputation as a stable and reliable export partner.

“I released Australia’s new Critical Minerals Strategy in June, which lays out Australia’s support for the industry and our plan to become a globally significant supplier of critical minerals by 2030.”

The visit to Europe and the UK will be a chance to outline how Australia is working with the sector and cooperating with international partners to diversify global supply chains and support investment in the mining and processing of key critical minerals.

“The world’s clean energy transition will ride on the back of Australia’s critical minerals,” Minister King said.

“Critical minerals are crucial components of clean energy technologies such as batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage, as well as for wind farms and solar panels.”

Australia is the world’s leading producer of unprocessed lithium, the world’s third-largest cobalt exporter and the fourth-largest exporter of rare earths. Australia is also the fourth-largest exporter of mined copper and nickel and a significant producer of aluminium.

Graphite from Zavalievsky mine in Ukraine

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Recently, Perth-based company Volt Resources Limited re-started their graphite mine in Ukraine and in a recent webinar organised jointly with our member company DGWA, we were able to learn about the logistic and personnel challenges faced by the  Zavalievsky Graphite company in their operations. CEO Prashant Chintawa and Trevor Matthews, Director of Volt Resources, together with Roman Saramaga, CEO of Zavalievsky Graphite, reported on their activities.

Graphite is one of the most important materials for the transition to the green economy, as it is a major component required for the manufacture of anodes in lithium-ion batteries (LIB) for electric vehicles, for example. Currently, China is the major supplier of graphite to Europe, but there is a need for a major diversification of sources, which will be encouraged by the forthcoming European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act.

The webinar can be viewed on YouTube® at this link.

The webinar was organised by the GABC Raw Materials Focus Group. We shall be organising further events – feel free to sign up for further information.

Volt Resources

Volt Resource announces successful restart of graphite production at their Ukrainian mine

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Australian-based graphite producer and graphite anode materials developer Volt Resources Limited has announced on 8 May that, following the winter stoppage at the Ukrainian Zavalievsky graphite mine and processing plant, in-depth production planning determined a one-month-per-quarter production cycle. Production of graphite subsequently recommenced on 11 April 2023. As of 5 May 2023, over 700 tonnes of graphite concentrate had been produced, including a record daily production of 88 tonnes on 26 April 2023. The average daily production is 54 tonnes with most of the graphite concentrate produced during the campaign achieving 88-96% purity. The Company plans to complete this current production campaign in mid-May 2023.

Volt CEO, Prashant Chintawar, said “Zavalievsky Graphite is a part of our growth strategy, and positions Volt as one of a small number of ex-China graphite producers globally. We congratulate the Zavalievsky team for overcoming many challenges, including power and supply chain disruptions, and personnel availability, to execute our operating plan for 2023 and deliver a very successful restart of the operation”.

Volt Resources is a client of German Australian Business Council member, DGWA based in Frankfurt. They have arranged for Volt to highlight their activities as a supplier of raw materials and their operation in war-torn Ukraine in a webinar on 23 May at 12:00 CEST. Feel free to sign up at this link.

Our raw materials focus group has organised this event. Reach out to us if you are interested in participating.

 

Lithium and the Green Revolution

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The Economist magazine reports on the importance of lithium to the green revolution. Over half of the world’s supply currently comes from Chile, and the government is creating a state-owned company to produce the mineral. Private companies will have to form joint-venture companies in the future with this state-owned company, and the state will have a majority stake. Other Latin American and African countries are planning similar moves. The magazine criticises the current resource nationalism and notes that the nationalisation of companies has had a bad track record in the region, with the companies being mismanaged or corrupt. Extraction of the resources requires know-how, technology, and expertise which is currently unavailable in the region. The trend towards resource nationalism has also affected investment in the industry, as Bolivia (holding the second-largest reserves of lithium) has shown with a decree overturning a planned investment project.

The Economist also reproduces a chart which shows Australia holding a significant amount of lithium reserves, as well as supplies of other critical raw materials for the green revolution. An IMF paper recently estimated that revenues from the extraction of minerals, such as lithium, copper, cobalt and nickel, could rise four-fold because of the increased demand.

At the German Australian Business Council, we shall be looking at the implications for business in the next few months. Sign up for further information.

Mining Excavator

Australian Resources Minister welcomes “like-minded” foreign investors for Critical Minerals Projects

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ExcavatorSpeaking in Darwin, Madeleine King, Australia’s Resources Minister, has reportedly said that Australia will be welcoming “like-minded” investors to invest in critical minerals projects, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The report continues that Minister King did not flag any ban on Chinese investment into the industry, but as the AFR continues, Australian Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has already indicated that the country would be more assertive in ensuring that investment from abroad into critical minerals projects would be aligned with Australia’s national interest. He has already acted by preventing a major supplier of minerals from China from taking a bigger stake in one company.

At the German Australian Business Council, we are monitoring these developments closely. The recent visit by a German delegation to Australia and the forthcoming European Critical Raw Materials Act will provide an excellent opportunity to deepen relations between our countries.

Australia and Germany to collaborate on critical minerals study

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Australia and Germany will work together to create new opportunities for critical minerals projects in order to meet climate and energy targets. Australian Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King signed a joint Declaration of Intent with Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Dr Franziska Brantner, in Perth on Thursday, 6th April 2023.

The Declaration will support a joint study to help Australia meet its ambitions to develop value-added industries around critical minerals, from extraction, refinement and recycling, and to help Germany secure reliable supplies of critical minerals to underpin its manufacturing and recycling activities.

“Both Australia and Germany recognise the important opportunity we have to build diverse, resilient and sustainable critical minerals value chains,” Minister 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.”

Minister King will later this year release Australia’s new Critical Minerals Strategy, which will help grow the sector and reflect the important role critical minerals can play in Australia’s commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050.

 

Press Release Australian Department of Industry, Science and Resources

Lithium export boom in Australia

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The value of exports of Australian lithium has boomed in the recent year from AUD 5.2 billion to AUD 18.6 billion, according to figures published by the Office of the Australian Chief Economist.

Global demand for the critical raw mineral is expected to soar in the next few years as the material is used in many advanced products, such as batteries. Australia is one of the world’s key suppliers. Currently, rechargeable batteries use up to 80% of the global demand for lithium and Australia produces 53% of the world’s lithium.

Germany has recently signed agreements with Argentina to improve its supply and we hope that the forthcoming free trade agreement between the European Union and Australia will also encourage trade in raw and processed materials between the trading blocks.