The Queensland Government has launched its ‘Delivering Queensland’s Critical Minerals Future 2026–30’ strategy, outlining the state’s vision to be a globally recognised supplier of critical minerals.
Queensland hosts significant strategic reserves of critical minerals, established processing and refining capabilities, mining expertise, and a highly skilled workforce.
In 2024–2025, the state’s mining industry contributed $43.8 billion to its gross value added (GVA), making it the second largest contributor to the economy at 8.8% of total GVA. Queensland is considered a major global and national producer of various critical minerals, particularly bauxite and copper, alongside coal, zinc, lead, and gold.
The new ‘Delivering Queensland’s Critical Minerals Future 2026–30’ sets a clear plan to grow the sector, build sovereign capability and attract new investment as the state emerges as a destination of choice for critical minerals projects.
This new plan follows the Queensland Government’s $146 million budget investment to unlock critical minerals and accelerate the extraction, processing, and export of high-quality critical minerals.
Minister for Natural Resources and Mines Dale Last says the government has seen the impact that recent geopolitical uncertainty and export restrictions have had on global supply chains and the need for secure and reliable sources of strategic resources.
“The ‘Delivering Queensland’s Critical Minerals Future 2026–30’ sets out key actions to grow Queensland’s value chain to expand processing, refining, and manufacturing to build a global supply chain that is shielded from externalities that halt critical and strategic resources,” Last says.
Bauxite
Queensland produces over 35 million tonnes of bauxite per year, primarily driven by mining giant Rio Tinto’s (ASX:RIO) operations in Weipa on the Cape York Peninsula.
Bauxite is the principal aluminium ore, which is widely used in transportation, aerospace, construction, and packaging.
Metro Mining (ASX:MMI) plays a role in delivering the critical mineral bauxite to ensure a sustainable future.
Earlier this month, the company achieved a record Q2 with a 7% increase in bauxite shipments from its Bauxite Hills mine in North Queensland.
Metro shipped 1.8 million wet tonnes of bauxite during Q2 2026, as well as 779,000 wet tonnes in June alone, representing a 29% increase from May 2026.
Metro Mining’s bauxite shipment guidance for 2026 ranges between 6.6–7.1 million wet tonnes.
The Bauxite Hills mine is a single operating mine located 95km north of Weipa in Western Cape York. The mine covers 825km2 and has an estimated reserve of 77.7 million tonnes and a total resource of 114.4 million tonnes.
Bauxite Hills employs more than 300 people and, in 2022, exceeded its Traditional Owner employment target of 30%, maintaining an Indigenous workforce of 35%.
Copper
Queensland also produces more than 200,000 tonnes of refined copper annually, accounting for about half of Australia’s total copper output and roughly 1% of the global production.
In early July, Alma Metals (ASX:ALM) acquired a fully equipped modular exploration camp from South Australia, which has been relocated to its Briggs Copper Project in Central Queensland.
Briggs comprises three exploration permits and one application, covering 245km2. The project contains an inferred resource of 932 million tonnes @ 0.21% copper and 36 parts per million molybdenum at a 0.2% copper cut-off grade.
Alma says the new camp offers a “significant upgrade” to current on-site conditions and facilitates improved fatigue management, including individual ensuite rooms and a full kitchen and messing facility, as previously reported.
The company is progressing a mineral resource estimate infill core drilling program at Briggs, with around 1,600m drilled to date and four holes completed since the program began at the end of April.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: iStock
