Critical minerals are vital for the net zero transition and strengthening Australia’s economic resilience.
The Australian Government’s International Partnerships in Critical Minerals program will provide $40 million in grants across eight projects.
The projects funded under this program will build Australia’s sovereign capability in critical minerals processing and support critical minerals projects of mutual interest to Australia’s international partners.
Funding allocations include $3.8 million for the Vecco Group to support the development of a vanadium flow battery manufacturing supply chain in Queensland. This includes a Feasibility Study for the Julia Creek vanadium mine, commissioning and operation of a high-purity vanadium pilot plant, and design of an electrolyte manufacturing plant in Townsville.
Some $5.1 million has been allocated to Australian Strategic Materials (ASX:ASM) to support the development of a rare earth and critical minerals mine and processing plant in Dubbo in central west New South Wales.
Graphinex has received $3 million to support a proposed graphite refinery (Battery Anode Hub) in Townsville linked to its Esmeralda deposit, while $7.39 million has been allocated to Tivan (ASX:TVN) for Feasibility Studies in Perth into its Speewah Fluorite project located in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Meanwhile, Australian Rare Earths (ASX:AR3) has received $5 million to support a demonstration plant for extraction of ionic clay hosted rare earth elements at its Koppamurra Project at Naracoorte in South Australia’s Limestone Coast region.
Others include $2.7 million for Critical Minerals Group (ASX:CMG) to support a vanadium electrolyte production chain for battery-grade materials in northern Queensland including Townsville and Mount Isa; $5 million for Renascor Resources (ASX:RNU) to support the construction and operation of a purified spherical graphite pilot processing plant in Wingfield South Australia; and $8 million for Queensland Pacific Metals Ltd to produce nickel and cobalt in Albion Queensland for use at the Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub project near Townsville.
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Images: Australian Government
