nickel
If you think the most exciting innovations in critical-minerals exploration are happening in labs or boardrooms, you might want to take another look at the drill pad.
It takes a certain type of confidence to suggest the future of clean energy metals might lie four kilometres below the Pacific Ocean – confidence, and perhaps a streak of stubbornness.
It’s not every day that a government geoscience leader talks about AI assistants, rare earth mapping, and century-long prosperity in the same breath – but that’s exactly what Melissa Harris did in Perth.
When a government commits to a multi-billion program over 35 years to a single initiative, it’s worth paying attention.
When reliable environmental performance data doesn’t exist, simulation can step in – and according to IGO Nova’s Zachary Hearne, it could give Australian producers a market advantage.
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.
As global demand for clean energy technology intensifies and geopolitical tensions rise, the importance of critical minerals has reached new heights.
