Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI:THE United States and Australia have signed a critical minerals agreement, days after China announced new export controls on rare earth minerals, magnets and other products.
President Donald Trump hosted Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House on October 20, where both leaders signed the mineral deal. The Australian Prime Minister lauded the minerals agreement, saying it will take the bilateral relationship to the “next level”. He described it as an $8.5 billion pipeline “that we have ready to go.”
A copy of the agreement released by both governments said the two countries will each invest $1 billion over the next six months into mining and processing projects as well as set a minimum price floor for critical minerals, a move that Western miners have long sought. A White House statement on the agreement added that the investments would target deposits of critical minerals worth $53 billion, although it did not provide details on which types or locations.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank, which acts as the U.S. government’s export credit agency, later announced seven letters of interest totaling more than $2.2 billion to advance critical minerals projects in Australia.
EXIM said the projects span a range of critical minerals essential to advanced defense systems, aerospace components, communications equipment, and next-generation industrial technologies. The term critical minerals applies to a range of minerals, including rare earths, lithium and nickel.
