Africa's critical mineral producers are shifting from hosting resources to setting terms, and a recent intelligence briefing shows the leverage is real, the value capture is not yet, and the read-through for Australian operations is sharper than the geopolitics suggests.
Australia's share of China's lithium concentrate imports has almost halved since 2022, but the interesting question is not who took it – it is why they are being paid so much less for it.
The future of underground mining could mean no one sets foot underground at all - a zero-entry mine powered by autonomy, interoperability, and constantly updated digital twins.
