An interactive modelling platform developed by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney aims to help assess the economic, environmental, and strategic challenges facing critical mineral supply chains.
The Green Minerals Platform brings together advanced modelling tools and interdisciplinary research to help industry, governments, and investors evaluate critical mineral supply chains. It will also help them make more informed decisions about technology, investment, and decarbonisation.
Users will be able to examine different supply chain designs and geographic configurations, considering factors such as ore quality, processing locations, technology choices, energy sources, and transport routes.
For example, users can examine how integrating renewable electricity and other low-emission technologies across copper and lithium supply chains affects production costs and carbon emissions.
They can also explore how carbon pricing, trade policies, government incentives, and geopolitical factors influence the competitiveness of different supply chain pathways.
Mining companies will be able to evaluate new technologies, while investors can assess project risks. In addition, governments can consider policy options and researchers are able to study sustainable resource development.
Understanding supply chain challenges
As nations race to secure critical minerals necessary for the energy transition, decisions about how these minerals are mined, processed, and supplied are becoming more complex.
According to UNSW Sydney, strategies that improve the competitiveness or environmental performance of one mineral may not deliver the same benefits for another.
At the same time, critical mineral supply chains are expected to be cost-competitive, low-carbon, resilient, and secure.
This changes how mineral resources are valued, with greater attention being paid to where processing takes place, which technologies are used, and how supply chains are organised to balance costs, emissions, and supply security.
For Australia, these decisions are particularly relevant. The nation’s mineral resources and renewable energy potential present opportunities to expand domestic processing and manufacturing.
Australia’s resources sector accounts for 60% of the nation’s export revenue, as previously reported. As of December 2025, the nation had 448 operating mines producing a wide range of minerals.
Green Minerals Platform research lead and Scientia Associate Professor Rahman Daiyan says addressing the challenges facing critical mineral supply chains requires collaboration across research disciplines, industry, and government.
“Critical minerals supply chains involve complex decisions about technologies, energy systems, processing locations, and market conditions,” Daiyan says.
“By bringing together expertise from different disciplines, we can develop tools that help industry and governments better understand these challenges.
“What we are developing is a platform that brings together expertise from across our research teams and translates that knowledge into practical tools. We want to help industry and governments compare different options, understand the trade-offs, and make decisions based on sound technical and economic analysis.”
Policy development
The initiative benefits from the involvement of several UNSW professors, bringing together broader academic perspectives to support the platform’s research direction, interdisciplinary collaboration, and industry applications.
UNSW Sydney says the research draws on expertise across mineral processing, energy systems, techno-economic modelling, and supply chain assessment.
By combining specialised research across different mineral and metal value chains, the team aims to develop practical tools that can help industry and governments. This includes evaluating emerging technologies, investment opportunities, and pathways for reducing emissions.
Beyond its applications for industry, the UNSW team sees opportunities for the platform to support government policy development and broader discussions about the nation’s critical minerals future.
As investment in domestic processing and emerging technologies grows, consistent techno-economic and environmental assessments can help inform policy choices, identify opportunities, and evaluate the implications of different investment strategies.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
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