Western Australian companies have won the lion's share of a $243 million critical minerals funding initiative from the federal government hoped to bolster domestic manufacturing.
Western Australian companies have won a sizeable share of a $243 million critical minerals funding initiative from the federal government hoped to bolster domestic manufacturing.
The $243.6 million will be allocated to four critical minerals projects across Australia, an industry Prime Minister Scott Morrison says will be of strategic significance going forward due to its use in mobile phones, electric cars, wind turbines and high technology applications.
The funding was awarded under the federal government’s broader $1.3 billion modern manufacturing initiative, with today’s grants tied in with Mr Morrison’s election campaign in Perth.
The bulk of this, around $119.6 million, will go towards a $399 million integrated nickel-manganese-cobalt refinery hub in Kalgoorlie.
This project is led by Brisbane-based Pure Battery Technologies and supported by Perth-based Poseidon Nickel, which owns the Black Swan nickel project, also in Kalgoorlie.
Overall, it is tipped to generate 380 construction jobs and 175 initial permanent jobs from 2023.
Australian Vanadium won $49 million from the pool to develop a vanadium processing facility near Meekatharra.
As part of this project, vanadium - a metal used for batteries - mined from AVL’s Meekatharra mine would be transported to a plant inland from Geraldton for processing, which it plans to power via clean hydrogen from partner ATCO Australia.
The company submitted a proposal for the $228 million vanadium processing facility in December last year.
The project is estimated to support 740 jobs.
Also getting a slice of the funding is Perth-based Arafura Resources and its flagship Nolans project located 135 kilometres north of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
The company is planning to build what it claims will be Australia’s first rare earth separation plant of its kind and the second outside of China.
Arafura was granted $30 million under the federal government initiative, with plant construction set to cost approximately $90.8 million and generate some 650 jobs.
The plant sits within the broader Nolans Project which is set to include a mine and related infrastructure.
The remaining $45 million was dealt to Alpha HPA and partner Orica for the construction of a full scale high purity alumina project in Gladstone in Queensland.
Association of Mining and Exploration Companies chief executive Warren Pearce said the investment was a big step forward for the critical minerals industry.
"It's a really significant announcement and a really substantive step for the commonwealth government to recognise that this is what has to happen for us to get our minerals into the processing space," Mr Pearce said.
He said the funding had come in at the right time for the sector, with WA companies and AMEC itself advocating for critical minerals years in advance.
"I think what it does recognise is that WA is a bit ahead of the game," Mr Pearce told Business News.
"Our companies are in a position where they are ready to take that step, whereas other states probably a year or two behind."
Broadly, he said building on WA's downstream processing opportunities increased the state's investment appeal and would help diversify its supply chain.
"We're a reliable jurisdiction with a substantial blessing of critical minerals," he said.
Speaking in Perth today, the Prime Minister said WA was a powerhouse of the Australian economy and that his party was ‘serious about backing the resources industry’ in the state.
“Projects like these make for a stronger economy and a stronger future for Australia,” the Prime Minister said in a statement.
“These projects are about manufacturing the products and materials Australians need and the world needs, by making them right here at home.”
The news was welcomed by shareholders in the awarded companies.
Australian Vanadium shares were up 40 per cent on the news, while Arafura Resources and Alpha HPA both closed up 15 per cent today.
Poseidon Nickel is still in a trading halt pending a formal announcement.
Announced alongside the funding was a $200 million 'accelerator grants program' hoped to boost the critical minerals sector.
This also included a $50 million investment into research and development and an updated industry strategy.
“The world is becoming a more uncertain place and we want to secure Australia as a reliable partner for local and global businesses that need the critical minerals we have right here,” Mr Morrison said in a statement.
