Government investment can kick-start the critical minerals industry in Queensland.

Critical minerals includes a spread of periodic table elements from copper to the heavier rare earths and others that occur in traces such as Indium.

They’re known as ‘critical’ because they’re essential in manufacturing everything from electric vehicles, wind turbines, mobile phones, drones and computing. 

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Critical minerals also have strategic geopolitical value.  China is not only the world’s largest miner of critical minerals but also the largest processor.

Processing critical minerals is a serious opportunity for Queensland, said Policy Director -Economics at the Queensland Resources Council, Andrew Barger.  

In many cases, the host ores are already being brought to the surface in the hunt for silver, copper and zinc, he said.

Mr Barger is Master of Ceremonies at the North West MPX mining conference and expo being held in Mount Isa over 12-14 July. 

Test case in Townsville

Vanadium was a case in point where the state government is contributing $10m to build a multi-user processing facility in Townsville, he said. 

“I think it sends a tremendously strong signal to the explorers and producers,” Mr Barger said. 

“It’s a canny way for the state government to get some facilities on the ground without having to necessarily put in a lot of money at risk.  

“They own the asset, but it’s available to companies as they work out the best way to process their ores.” 

“If you’re an investor sitting back saying, ‘Well, do I invest in Queensland or Quebec?’ If you’re comparing projects and the metallurgy’s similar, in Queensland the government has funded common user facilities that will reduce the costs and risk of my project.  That’s an great way to grab attention as a point of difference.

“I think that’s a really encouraging way of nurturing those new commodities, particularly these high-value added commodities, where we haven’t traditionally had a history of producing in Queensland.”

“Fostering minerals processing in Queensland is a way of boosting the whole industry’s supply chain.  This facility will give local companies the chance to build up expertise in working with producers.  You start to build up a critical mass of knowledge.”

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Critical minerals had a huge upside potential for the economy Mr Barger said.

“If the state government invests in processing facilities up front and then makes it available to all producers, you lower the cost of entry into the market. There’s no two ways about it – you’re nurturing competition. 

“It’s a subsidy to the industry, but I think it’s a fairly clever and targeted one because it’s specific to a commodity. 

“And I think if you look at the projections of where demand for those commodities could go, they’re as much investments as they are subsidies.  They’re small investments in the state’s future capability that could pay some pretty handsome dividends.”

The same model was used in the coal fields with building the Central Queensland Coal Network said Mr Barger.

“Historically, we saw exactly the same thing with the development of the coal industry in the Bowen Basin.”

“Very few projects could afford to build their own rail line to the coast and build a port so the state government built that shared infrastructure and then operated it as a business. 

“It is a model that we’ve seen apply in the path of enabling new producers to establish themselves and compete with existing producers.”

The North West MPX mining conference and expo runs over 12-14 July. Click here to register.

(Pic: Managing Director Gavin Loyden at the site of the QEM’s integrated green energy, diesel and vanadium mine operation near Julia Creek in north west Queensland.)