preface
On Friday afternoon, United States time, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited United States President Joe Biden.
In the run-up to the United States election, the two discussed the security of the AUKUS defense agreement.
After the meeting, Albanese emphasized the "deep support" of Congress and the Senate for AUKUS and assured that the United States government will continue to support the AUKUS defense agreement no matter what happens in the future.
Under the intelligence and military partnership agreement, Australia will purchase three conventionally armed and nuclear-powered submarines by 2030 to replace its current diesel-electric submarine fleet.
The AUKUS consortium has many other goals, including the development of quantum technologies, underwater robots, and hypersonic and anti-hypersonic technologies.
In addition to the security protocol, the parties also discussed the issue of resources.
The popularity of electric vehicles around the world is unstoppable, and the market demand for essential raw materials is also skyrocketing, especially lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and other raw materials necessary for battery manufacturing.
China has become the number one player in electric vehicles, and United States is in the eyes and anxious.
Against this backdrop, the Biden administration in United States is also on the verge of approving the first lithium project during its tenure in response to the growing demand for lithium resources in the electric vehicle market.
At the same time, the United States directly targets Australia and provides substantial financial assistance to many Australia companies, a move that will undoubtedly consolidate its rear base for resource supply.
First lithium mine project approved in the United States
United States Biden administration released a key environmental assessment report on Thursday, September 19, regarding the Rhyolite Ridge lithium project in Nevada.
If approved, the project will be one of the largest domestic sources of metals for electric vehicle batteries in the United States.
The move reflects the United States' ongoing strategy to increase domestic production of critical mineral resources and reduce dependence on the Chinese market.
If approved, the Rhyolite Ridge lithium project will be the first approved lithium project during the Biden administration.
The United States Geological Survey has classified lithium as a critical mineral critical to the nation's economy and security.
As part of its efforts to promote the development of domestic mineral resources, the United States Department of Energy announced last year plans to provide Ioneer (ASX Code:INR) with a loan support of up to $700 million to support the development of the lithium project, subject to Ioneer obtaining relevant permits.
Australian Mining
Meanwhile, the next day the United States Biden administration offered a US$166 million (A$243.6 million) financial grant to Australia exchange-listed manganese producer Element 25 (ASX Code:E25) to partially support its construction of a plant in Louisiana that plans to refine manganese into battery-grade products.
Trading in the Element 25, which currently has a market capitalization of $50 million, has been suspended.
The financial support will be used to fund Element 25's high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate plant near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Manganese sulphate is a key ingredient in lithium-ion battery cathodes, but most of its supply of refined ore is currently dependent on China.
Element 25 could jump at the start of trading on Monday.
At the meeting in Delaware between United States President Joe · Biden and Australia Federal Prime Minister Anthony ·Albanese Anthony Albanese, the two sides also had in-depth discussions on the supply and processing of critical minerals such as manganese, rare earths, and graphite.
The aim is to reduce China's dominance in key materials such as batteries, defense and decarbonization.
Australia has taken a firmer stance on Chinese investment in critical minerals, including forcing Chinese companies to divest their stakes in Northern Minerals, a rare earths company listed on the Australia Stock Exchange (mainly heavy rare earths: dysprosium).
Australia-US cooperation
Australia Prime Minister Anthony · Albanese said Australia expects to reach an agreement with the United States on critical minerals by the end of the year following a meeting with the United States president.
United States President Joe · Biden also said that critical minerals and their supply chains are important for future global growth.
"As we continue to delve deeper into the drivers of global growth this century, Australia actually has all the elements needed for a complete periodic table."
This not only gives us access to these resources, but also provides us with a way to increase their value and address related supply chain issues.
Prime Minister Albanese said he had extremely useful discussions with President Biden on moving the process forward and expects it to be completed by the end of the year.
In fact, more than a year ago, the two countries began negotiations on the AUSA Climate, Critical Minerals and Clean Energy Transition Agreement.
The aim of the partnership is to ensure a sustainable and stable supply of rare earth minerals essential for a range of high-tech sectors, with China currently dominating the global market, controlling about 70% of production and more than 90% of refining production.
United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy Laura · Taylor-Kyle pledged earlier this year that the United States would establish a "sustainable ore-to-magnet supply chain to meet all of United States' defense needs."
She noted the company "will produce about 25% of the world's rare earth element oxides" once the Texas-based Lynas (ASX Code: LYC) project commences operations.
According to a report released by Benchmark Source on September 3, China's significant strength in rare earth production has led to a continued low global rare earth price, which has made it difficult for most rare earth mines to achieve financial balance, while early-stage development projects are also facing delays and funding shortages.
The report further elaborates that these conditions could pose an obstacle to Western countries' efforts to reduce their dependence on China's rare earth supply chains.
At the same time, Tom O'Leary, CEO of Iluka Resources, also pointed out that China's influence on ·the global rare earths market is everywhere.
epilogue
In his conversation, Prime Minister Albanese elaborated on his in-depth discussions with President Biden on cooperation in the development of critical minerals.
Jointly develop these vital resources and look forward to the great potential for further cooperation.
Prime Minister Albanese stressed the importance of inviting Canada and other mineral-rich countries to join this cooperation framework in order to achieve the common goal of promoting the sustainable development and utilization of critical mineral resources around the world.
Western countries have long struggled to achieve an important strategic goal, which is to minimize dependence on China-controlled mineral resources.
This includes finding alternative resources, developing domestic mineral resources, and strengthening cooperation with other countries.
This allows them to better control their economic and strategic destiny and reduce their vulnerability to critical mineral resources.
Therefore, it can be seen that in the future, United States will intervene more and more in Australian resource enterprises!
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