Joint investments, knowledge sharing, and the coordination of strategic reserves are aimed at strengthening supply chains. In addition, Australia is joining the G7 alliance for the production of critical minerals.
Two Western mining nations are joining forces: Australia and Canada plan to work more closely together to make supply chains for critical minerals less dependent on China. The agreement was signed today during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s state visit to his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese. Alongside this, the two countries established additional partnerships in strategic sectors such as energy, artificial intelligence, and security.
The goals of the resource cooperation include joint investments in mining projects and the exchange of expertise. To enhance supply security, Australia’s developing national strategic mineral reserve will be coordinated with Canada’s government-managed Critical Minerals Investment Fund. The partnership builds on existing bilateral cooperation in the mining sector.
Both Canada and Australia have significant mineral resources and are major producers of iron ore, zinc, and gold. Both countries also aim to become key suppliers of critical minerals such as rare earth elements, as global demand rises while availability becomes increasingly constrained. Australia is already the world leader in lithium mining and plans to expand its refining capacity, where China currently dominates. The island nation is also the largest rare earth producer after China. Canada has already reached several milestones along the rare earth value chain. Both countries position themselves as reliable alternatives in the global resource market through high environmental and labor standards and political stability.
Resource Minister: Canada Prefers a Production Alliance Over Price Guarantees
On Thursday, Australia also announced its entry into the G7 alliance for critical mineral production. Securing resources is a recurring topic at meetings of the seven leading industrialized nations. In September, price guarantees for non-Chinese mining companies were discussed to strengthen competitiveness. However, Canada favors a production alliance or a type of buyers’ club to counter China’s market concentration, explained Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, Tim Hodgson, to Reuters.
A key step in this direction could be Canada’s initiative launched earlier this week, which includes 30 new partnerships in the resource sector and mobilizes nearly $9 billion USD in total.
A month ago, the United States hosted a meeting with representatives from 54 countries and the European Union to make the global market for critical minerals “fairer” from the U.S. perspective. Proposed measures included a preferred trading zone for critical minerals with fixed minimum prices. According to Reuters, the U.S. signed an agreement with Mexico as part of this effort but did not include Canada.
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