Ai Group welcomed the opportunity to provide feedback on the review of the Critical Minerals List.

We welcome the Australian Government’s commitment to critical minerals industries. Australia was one of the first countries to develop a specific critical minerals strategy in 2019. This was updated in 2022, and again in 2023, to reflect a growing suite of policies designed to support the industry’s development.

It is appropriate, in light of the new Critical Minerals Strategy of June 2023, to also review the associated Critical Minerals List.

Australia finds itself in a unique position as both a critical mineral using and exporting economy. For most other countries which have developed a critical minerals list, it primarily functions as a tool to identify demand-side gaps: those minerals which are needed by industry but might be classified as critical due to a combination of its economic importance and potential supply risk.

However, as one of the world’s leading suppliers of critical minerals, Australia’s list must reflect a broader set of industrial priorities. We need to identify both demand-side risks (critical minerals needed by industry) and supply-side opportunities (critical minerals we can develop for export to strategic partners). With the exception of Canada, no other country with a critical minerals list needs to reflect both demand- and supply-side policy objectives.

Ai Group does not offer specific suggestions for which minerals should be included on the critical minerals list at this time. However, we offer four principles for how this analysis should be conducted.