January 29, TOKYO/MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia's government on Monday unveiled a "prospectus" of 52 investment-ready critical minerals projects. Australia's resources minister has started a week-long tour to South Korea and Japan to discuss gas exports and potential related to essential minerals.
The resource-rich country is looking for partners to invest in projects that generate minerals that are essential to renewable energy and might disrupt supply chains. These projects range from processing rare earths to different mines and facilities that produce nickel and cobalt.
"Australia's vital minerals are essential to the global energy transition," Minister Madeleine King declared in a press release.
"But we need to attract investment to get these minerals out of the ground, to process them here, to build the batteries, wind turbines, and solar panels required to make the switch to a lower carbon economy," she stated.
According to a release, King will meet with South Korean trade and energy minister Duk-geun Ahn as well as Japan's trade minister Ken Saito.
Given that both countries are significant consumers of the main exporter, the minister is also anticipated to discuss natural gas with her colleagues as Australia formulates its future gas strategy.
"As Australians ... we can't ignore the role we need to play in providing for the energy security of large economies like Japan, and also others like (South) Korea and China as well as Singapore ... the Philippines as well as Malaysia," King said to reporters in Tokyo.
The rush for investment coincides with a global decline in lithium and nickel prices, which are being negatively impacted by the slower-than-anticipated acceptance of electric vehicles. An abundance of nickel from Indonesia has also driven down prices.
Numerous Australian nickel projects have already been shelved this year, including one that was part of BHP's (BHP.AX) opening new mining operations in Western Australia. As miners report output for this week, more are anticipated.
Amid reports of closures and job layoffs, King spent last week meeting with executives of the sector at multiple round tables in Western Australia, the nation's resource center.
She vowed to back the industry and stated that she was committed to making sure Australian miners could compete with lower-quality, less expensive minerals produced in less ecologically responsible ways elsewhere.
"Australia has the capacity to develop into a dependable long-term supplier of rare earths and essential minerals to Japan. Japan can support Australia's vital minerals and rare earths sectors, just as it did for the iron ore and LNG industries, King stated in Tokyo.
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