Critical minerals
A critical mineral is a metallic or non-metallic element that has two characteristics:
- It is essential for the functioning of our modern technologies, economies or national security.
- There is a risk that its supply chains could be disrupted.
Australia has a rich endowment of critical minerals, and offers a stable and secure jurisdiction for investment in the sector.
Critical minerals have a vital role to play in the global energy transition, contributing directly to large-scale electrification and renewable energy technologies, including the emerging battery sector.
The Territory Government is committed to developing our critical minerals resources, and to maximise value for the Territory by growing downstream processing and manufacturing industries and supporting decarbonisation.
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Geoscience Australia lists the Australian Government’s 26 critical minerals, and many of our key trading partners have also defined their own lists of minerals that they define as ‘critical’.
The Territory has compiled a Critical Minerals in the Northern Territory guide that documents the Territory’s endowment of minerals defined as critical by Australia and/or our trading partners. The Territory currently has demonstrated resources for 15 of these critical minerals, with geological potential for a further 13.
The Territory is advancing numerous major critical minerals projects, including for rare earth elements, lithium, copper, titanium and vanadium.
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- Electric motors
- Solar panels
- Wind turbines
- Electrolysers
- Energy storage
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Critical minerals processing generally involves two steps:
- beneficiation (reducing ore to concentrate) and;
- metallurgy (to extract saleable commodities).
Critical minerals then enter the downstream value chain, mostly as exports from Australia.
Australia is actively seeking to capture more of the downstream value add in critical minerals, bringing together our rich endowment and our sovereign capabilities in research and development. Common use industrial precincts, such as the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct, have an important role to play in providing access to large-scale infrastructure and proximity to a highly skilled workforce, whilst minimising environmental impacts.
