A critical minerals Olympic bid

The Queensland Resources Council chief executive has focused the debate on the development of critical minerals. Ian Macfarlane would like to see the Queensland industry in a position to supply the energy needs of the Brisbane Olympics. The 2032 games were a natural venue to showcase the state’s capability and renewable energy minerals were one of 24 the State Government had listed as critical, Mr Macfarlane said. Related: Critical minerals punch through “Queensland has an enormous potential to supply the world with our critical minerals,” he said. The US Geological Survey defines critical minerals as 'mineral commodities that have important uses and no viable substitutes, yet face potential disruption in supply, are defined as critical to the nation’s economic and national security.' “We are a jurisdiction with high ESG (environment, social and governance) credentials, something that will be a defining factor going into the future and much sooner than I think many other jurisdictions realise. “One key advantage Queensland and Australia have is we have a world class METS industry, we are really good at innovation and export it to the world. Our METS sector will play front and centre with the development our critical minerals industry.” Room for improvement There was room for improvement in industry-government collaboration, Mr Macfarlane said. “The critical minerals players right now are small to mid-tier companies that would struggle to build the supply chains necessary for the processing and manufacturing ambitions our federal and State governments are seeking. “Over a decade ago we saw the government play a strong facilitation role in the CSG to LNG industry and I think this is really what is needed now for critical minerals in Queensland. “In terms of timelines, we can go as fast or as slow as we want, but ultimately our key driving factors are continued strong government support and hopefully soon this also translates into facilitation as well as continued strong commodity prices and inflow of capital investment into projects. “I think a goal of our industry should be to supply all the raw materials with supply chains in place in time to supply the full suite of energy mixes for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics – silica sand and steel for our solar panels and the vanadium for our battery storage.” Related: $2b fund to turbocharge critical minerals sector The industry was in a strong position with the trifecta of strong government support, strong capital investment and strong commodity prices, Mr Macfarlane said. “This is the environment that gets projects off the ground like we have seen happen in the last couple of months. “The issue for Queensland now is how do we build on this strong position all the way from mine to product – the full the supply chain. “To do this we need to collaborate more than ever as an industry and with government. This is a real challenge because history shows we could do this better.”

A critical minerals Olympic bid

Industry Queensland

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