Australia’s Critical Minerals and Rare Earths Sector: Overview and Outlook

‍Critical minerals are natural elements and compounds that are essential to modern technologies and the functioning of advanced economies. However, they face a high risk of supply disruption due to geological scarcity, concentration of supply, or geopolitical considerations. Critical minerals play important roles in clean energy, digital technologies, defence systems, and advanced manufacturing. Their most notable roles are in the manufacturing of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, home storage batteries, wind turbines, semiconductors, and permanent magnets for motors. Well known examples include lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, rare earth elements (REEs), and others identified by governments such as the United States, European Union, and Australia itself.