A parliamentary hearing is taking place today (19 October) to examine factors shaping social licence and economic development outcomes for critical minerals projects across Australia.
Monash University Professor Russell Smyth and Associate Professor Stuart Walsh will appear on behalf of the Monash Critical Minerals Initiative. They will be discussing the social and environmental policies needed to advance Australia’s critical minerals future.
Led by Professor Smyth, researchers from the Monash Business School have examined the energy transition as a tax design challenge.
The research highlights the role fiscal policy can play in attracting investment, as Australia seeks to strengthen domestic supply chains and capitalise on growing demand for the minerals underpinning the energy transition.
However, while governments and industry recognise the strategic importance of critical minerals, explorers and developers must still navigate a complex development pathway.
Australia’s critical mineral strategy
Australia is aiming to become a global renewable energy powerhouse and has implemented a Critical Minerals Strategy 2023–2030. The strategy was shaped by extensive public consultation to understand the barriers and opportunities facing the Australian industry and community.
A $1.2 billion Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve has been established to secure the supply of key minerals vital to the nation’s economy, national security, and Future Made in Australia ambitions.
The first minerals to be the focus of the strategic reserve are antimony, gallium, and rare earths. These minerals are considered crucial for clean energy and high-technology manufacturing, alongside advanced military equipment.
Across the country, explorers and developers are working to identify new deposits, advance existing discoveries, and establish production capacity to help meet this strategic demand.
The progress of these projects will be critical to translating Australia’s mineral endowment into a reliable domestic supply of resources sought after by global markets.
Strengthening domestic supply
Antimony is a silvery-white metalloid classified as a critical mineral due to its role in defence, energy, and manufacturing.
Australia holds the world’s fourth-largest antimony reserves and produces around 1,300 tonnes annually.
Larvotto Resources (ASX:LRV) owns the Hillgrove Antimony-Gold Project in New South Wales, which began production this year.
Hillgrove is positioned to contribute around 7% of global antimony requirements. The project has a maiden ore reserve of 636,000 ounces gold equivalent (AuEq) @ 6.6 grams per tonne AuEq. The project also contains a mineral resource of 1.7 million ounces @ 7.4g/t AuEq.
The company recently marked the first delivery from its operations, delivering 68 tonnes of antimony concentrate to its offtake partner Wogen Resources.
Hillgrove’s operation is designed to produce 4,900 tonnes of antimony and 40,500 ounces of gold per year.
“This is a key milestone for Australia’s critical mineral and mining sector and is also significant for the New England region, supporting local jobs, businesses, and economic activity,” Larvotto Managing Director Ron Heeks says.
Hillgrove’s progress demonstrates how advancing domestic production could support Australia’s strategic supply objectives while delivering employment and business opportunities to regional communities.
Building domestic supply chains
Gallium is a soft, silvery metal essential for semiconductors, radar systems, high-performance electronics, radiotherapy, and light-emitting diodes. Its role in advanced and emerging technologies, combined with limited production, makes it a critical mineral.
China currently produces 98% of the world’s gallium, creating concentrated supply chains for industries supplying critical electronics and semiconductors.
Australia has significant gallium potential, as reported by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), particularly in Northern and Western Australia.
In June 2026, a final investment decision was made by Alcoa (ASX:AAI) and the Australian, US, and Japanese governments on a gallium project co-located at Alcoa’s Wagerup alumina refinery in WA.
Alcoa will construct and operate the gallium processing plant alongside the company’s existing refinery, extracting further value from the bauxite already mined and refined to produce alumina.
Through this project, Alcoa will apply its mineral processing experience to establish a new source for this critical mineral. The plant will be located on about 3 hectares of already cleared land.
The project highlights an alternative pathway to supply growth. Rather than relying on new discoveries, companies can recover strategically important minerals from existing operations and processing streams.
Advancing exploration and processing
Australia has the world’s fourth-largest reserves of rare earth elements (REE) and contributes between 5% and 8% of global production.
Several companies are exploring for rare earths in the nation, including Cobra Resources (LSE:COBR), which owns the Boland and Deloraine projects in South Australia and Tasmania, respectively.
Boland is an ionic rare earth discovery within the Wudinna Project in the Gawler Craton, first identified by Cobra in 2023.
Metallurgical work has shown simple and efficient processing for extracting REEs from Boland. Using a refined in situ recovery (ISR) approach, the company achieves ‘strong’ recoveries of around 66% of total rare earths, while naturally filtering out lower-value elements.
In mid-September 2026, Cobra conducted initial testing to support a Scoping Study for the Wudinna Project. The test work confirmed the potential to produce a higher-purity product with a greater proportion of heavy rare earths and reduced radionuclide concentrations.
Meanwhile, the Deloraine Project covers a 213km2 area and is situated adjacent to ABx Group’s (ASX:ABX) Deep Leads and Rubble Mounds REE Project. Deep Leads contains a resource of 52 million tonnes @ 817 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREOs).
Together, these projects highlight the work underway to identify and develop additional rare earth resources.
The parliamentary inquiry taking place today provides an opportunity to examine how policy settings can support tax incentives and investment frameworks, as well as environmental safeguards, land-use planning, and social licence.
As demand for minerals used in clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and defence continues to shape global supply chain priorities, the challenge for Australia is to turn its geological advantages into a commercially sustainable industry.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Main image: Minerals Council of Australia
