What the Albanese-Trump critical minerals deal means for WA

A US$8.5 billion (AUD$13 billion) critical minerals pact signed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Donald Trump could pave the way for a major refinery to be built in WA’s Peel region as early as next year.

WA’s resources sector is giddy with excitement at the push to develop critical minerals resources and refine them.

The US Department of War’s investment into aluminium giant Alcoa and Japanese company Sojitz Corporation’s gallium joint venture is a likely early beneficiary.

Gallium is used in computer chips and can be extracted during the bauxite-to-alumina refining process, meaning the material would come from Alcoa’s strip-mining venture in WA’s Darling Scarp.

The deal signed by Trump and Albanese on Tuesday (Australian time) could see a 100 metric ton-per-year refinery built in Wagerup by next year.

China blocked the export of gallium to Japan late last year, which WA Premier Roger Cook said gave the US and Australia the right to step in.

“The provocation comes from blocking global supply chains of these important products, so we are simply responding to the market,” he said.

“The realities of the market is that there’s a scarcity of these products, not from supply levels, but through decisions made elsewhere.”

Alcoa president and chief executive William F. Oplinger said the support underscored the miner’s role in supporting the development of the critical mineral supply chain, and the importance of its Australian operations to manufacturing, technology, and defence industries.

It was unclear how much the refinery would cost, but Albanese said it could produce 10 per cent of the world’s gallium supply. Alcoa and Sojitz will make a final investment decision next year.

However, WA Greens environment spokesperson Jess Beckerling said she was concerned the gallium refinery could be used to lock in a massive expansion of mining in the state’s jarrah forests.

“Alcoa’s gallium development project and forest mining expansion proposals, and any associated environment and climate impacts, must be assessed independently – the risk to our drinking water, the South-West’s unique jarrah forests and the endangered wildlife that call them home is far too important,” she said.

“Labor wants us to believe that a critical mineral deal with the US is going to put us on the path to a clean energy transition, when the truth is that Alcoa’s forest mining expansion will drag us even further in the opposite direction.

“Alcoa’s expansion plans that are currently under assessment risk contamination of our drinking water and would release more than 1.3 billion tonnes of [greenhouse gas] emissions over the life of the project.”

The US and Australia have agreed to spend about $3 billion together on critical mineral projects in the next six months.

The US Export-Import Bank has sent letters of interest to seven companies, alerting them to their intention to offer about $2.2 billion worth of financing to get their projects under way.

One of those companies was Northern Minerals, whose Browns Range heavy rare earths project in the East Kimberley could be in line for US$230 million (AUD$352 million) from the US’s state-owned bank, which usually only helps fund US company ventures.

Northern Minerals will also tap Australian equivalent, Export Finance Australia, for further funding.

Northern Minerals executive chairman Adam Handley said a feasibility study completed this month confirmed Browns Range was a globally significant resource, and it was one of the most advanced heavy rare earth projects outside of China.

“Backed by these Letters from EFA and EXIM, our focus is to secure the right funding solution to enable a Final Investment Decision to be made and construction to start at Browns Range – in line with Northern Minerals’ vision to deliver long-term, sustained value for our shareholders,” he said.

The other letters were sent to Arafura Rare Earths, Graphinex, La Trobe Magnesium, VHM, RZ Resources, and Sunrise Energy Metals.

Rare earths are a series of chemically similar elements crucial to advanced manufacturing, but China has control of much of the global market.

A US-Australia critical minerals supply security response group will also be established to identify supply chain issues and vulnerabilities. It will be led by the Australian resources minister and US secretary of energy.

Anita Logiudice, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA’s director of policy and advocacy, said the critical minerals deal was a game-changer that would light a fire under efforts to develop the state’s considerable reserves.

“WA is already the world’s fourth-largest producer of rare earths, and we possess half of Australia’s known critical minerals reserves, which are among the biggest on the planet,” she said.

“WA is also a stable and reliable trading partner with the skilled workforce and expertise needed to quickly and safely develop new resources projects.”

AUKUS on track

Cook was also enthused about Trump’s stated support for the AUKUS submarine deal to be expedited.

“AUKUS is a huge deal for Western Australia. It will create 10,000 jobs down in Henderson, which will become a naval maintenance and shipbuilding hub, the biggest in the southern hemisphere,” he said.

“What the comments from President Trump overnight represent is a clear indication that the Trump administration, more broadly, is committed to AUKUS.

“These are exciting days, and we need to make sure that my government is getting behind these projects, making sure that they’re delivered, and ensuring that we can continue and make and keep Western Australia’s economy the strongest in the nation.”

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