US$ Downunder? More Australian miners are expected to secure financial support from governments in coming weeks and Iluka Resources chief Tom O’Leary says there is now bipartisan support for the trend in many nations.
Iluka secured $1.2 billion worth of support for a domestic rare earths refinery on Monday from the federal government’s Export Finance Australia, a loan that dwarfs the $719 million in total loans, guarantees and bonds issued by the same agency last financial year.
Australia’s major defence partners in the US, Britain and Japan have also shown interest in securing their supply chains by lending or assisting Australian producers of “critical minerals”, and at least two Australian miners are understood to be close to winning funds from foreign governments.
The US government has named 50 minerals it considers “critical” to national security and economic growth, including lithium, nickel, antimony and cobalt to name a few, and President Joe Biden last week enacted wartime powers that make it easier for his government to directly invest in critical minerals projects.
Those powers may be extended to Australian companies.
https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/iluka-says-bipartisan-funding-wave-looms-for-critical-minerals-20220406-p5abab#:~:text=More%20Australian%20miners%20are%20expected,the%20trend%20in%20many%20nations