Strategic Minerals
When global lenders assess mining projects, it is no longer enough to meet Australian legislation – financiers are demanding alignment with international ESG standards, and the gaps are costing companies time and money.
The future of Australia’s role in critical mineral supply chains may depend less on matching China’s scale and more on proving that secure, trusted supply with ESG credentials is worth paying for.
When it comes to critical minerals in emerging nations, geology is often the easy part - what makes or breaks a project is navigating the politics, markets, and risks that sit behind the orebody.
China quietly built the world’s most powerful critical minerals supply chains while other nations - including Australia - dozed through a geopolitical shift that now threatens economic security, trade independence, and defence readiness.
PLS’ Pilgangoora Operation delivered a standout June quarter, with production volumes up 77 percent and unit operating costs down 10 percent compared to the previous quarter thanks to the integration of the world’s largest lithium ore sorting plant.
Global tariffs, record gold highs, and shifting battery metal fortunes are reshaping mining in 2025, with big implications for projects and suppliers.
When it comes to identifying rocks in mineral exploration and mining projects, the human eye remains the industry’s most widely used tool, despite its limitations, but for Dr Michelle Tappert, co-founder of Hyperspectral Intelligence Inc.
Dr Sandra Occhipinti, research director in minerals at Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, is leading a team of more than 100 scientists focused on one of the most complex challenges in modern exploration: how to accelerate mineral discovery in covered terrains while simultaneously improving geometallurgical insight across the mining value chain.
As mineral exploration enters an era defined by data complexity and digital transformation, one of the biggest hurdles geoscientists face is not a lack of information, but too much of it.
A new national report released today is urging the Australian government to end the policy gridlock paralysing land use and productivity across the country, warning that ongoing conflict between mining, agriculture, and the rapidly growing renewables sector is stalling billions in investment and threatening Australia’s economic backbone.
