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Diggers & Dealers 2021: CME heralds charge of WA’s battery brigade
Jason MennellKalgoorlie Miner
Thu, 5 August 2021 7:14AM
Jason Mennell


A fire has been lit under WA’s battery minerals sector, Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA director of policy and advocacy Rob Carruthers says.

Battery metals, renewable energy and social licence took centre stage across a range of commodities spanning 55 presentations at this year’s Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum.
It came amid a buoyant mood among the 2520 delegates who descended on Kalgoorlie-Boulder for the annual three-day mining talkfest, which wrapped up yesterday.

Mr Carruthers told the Kalgoorlie Miner the excitement surrounding battery minerals at the forum was palpable.
“We’ve gone from talking about the opportunities in battery minerals and associated commodities to lighting a fire under it, and that seems to be so much the optimism, not just for exploration but for bringing on new projects in this space,” he said. “Global expectations and particularly the big financiers are starting to really put the acid on producers to produce low-emission commodities and technologies into the future.”


Mr Carruthers said he thought global demand for battery minerals had “probably over-achieved on expectations” and WA was well placed to make the most of the trend.
“We’re well poised to meet those expectations because we’ve got a long track record of producing the commodities that are required for the future, and we’ve been doing that for 100 years in Western Australia,” he said.
“We’re also incredibly fortunate that we’ve continued to be able to operate largely unaffected over the 18 months in the unprecedented challenges that COVID has brought.”
Mr Carruthers said many companies had also been keen to outline their strong environmental, social and corporate governance credentials.
“There’s been a lot of discussion on ESG priorities and we’re really pleased to see rubber hitting road on that front,” he said.

“I guess we’re at the forefront to take advantage of that here in WA, and that even reflects some of the mining service companies and the presentations they’ve made this week.
“Some of the announcements on off-grid renewables and bringing down emissions in the process of mining and processing of ores is exciting for the industry, and I think a real opportunity for WA to lead the world in some of those aspects.

“WA mining operators are really taking advantage of the demand that exists in the global market and being part of the solution both in the commodities they produce and the way that they produce them.”