Queensland’s Mount Carbine tungsten mine and Esmerelda graphite project are front of mind as priorities firm under an Australia-United States agreement worth billions of dollars.

Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King and US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum have agreed on priority critical minerals and rare earths projects under a landmark framework agreement signed at the White House last year.

Ms King said they were delivering more than $5 billion to back Australian critical minerals projects under the bilateral Critical Minerals Framework signed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump.

“Australia and the US are delivering on the commitments made in the White House, with priority projects in Australia that support production of rare earths and critical minerals including nickel, cobalt, gallium, magnesium, vanadium and graphite.

“These materials are crucial to defence systems, advanced manufacturing and clean energy technologies that will help Australia and the world meet net zero commitments.”

Export Finance Australia (EFA) is providing funding support for Australian projects, along with the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM).

EFA and EXIM are working with Tronox Holdings on its rare earths refinery project, issuing coordinated letters of support/interest of up to around $424 million each, for a combined total of around $849 million.

The project, with operations in Western Australia and the US, will use Tronox’s existing mining and processing capabilities to produce mixed rare earth carbonate containing both light and heavy rare earth elements.

EFA and EXIM have also issued letters of support/interest of up to $500 million each for Ardea Resources’ Kalgoorlie Nickel Project in Western Australia.

Ms King said other projects supported under the Australia-US Critical Minerals Framework included:

• EQ Resources Mount Carbine Tungsten Project (Qld)
• Graphinex Esmerelda Graphite Mine (Qld)
• Arafura Nolans Rare Earths Project (NT)
• Astron Donald Rare Earths Project (Vic)
• Alcoa Gallium Recovery Project (WA)
• RZ Resources Copi Rare Earths Project (NSW)
• La Trobe Magnesium (Vic)
• Northern Minerals Heavy Rare Earths Project (WA)
• VHM Goshen Rare Earths Project (Vic)
• Global Advanced Metals (WA)

Additional projects for minerals including vanadium and scandium have also received indicative support from the Australian and United States governments.