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NQ battery metals trade to provide thousands of jobs

Big opportunities are opening for North Queensland to build on its international ties with Korea by supplying high-value battery precursor materials for electric vehicles.

One of the world’s largest EV battery makers, Korea’s LG Chem group, is investing in two of the region’s battery metals projects.

Townsville already hosts the Korean-owned Sun Metals zinc refinery which is working to produce hydrogen, mostly for heavy vehicle transport.

At stake is huge investments and thousands of jobs.

Earlier this year, the proponents of the $650m Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub project, Queensland Pacific Metals, announced supply agreements and equity stakes worth about $20m with LG Energy Solutions and Korean steel producer POSCO.

Meanwhile, Australian Mines, which is proposing a $1.5b nickel mining and processing plant in Greenvale, has agreements with LG Energy Solutions to supply nickel and cobalt concentrates and, potentially, nickel-cobalt-manganese Precursor Cathode Active Materials favoured by EV car makers.

QPM CEO Stephen Grocott said electrification and, particularly, investments from Korea were opening the way to well paid, highly skilled jobs in Townsville.

He said their project, if it proceeded next year, would require 300 jobs, almost all professional, highly skilled, degree-qualified positions.

One of the reasons Townsville was such a good site was the availability of a skilled workforce and the presence of good universities, Mr Grocott said.

One downside is risk aversion in Australia.

While QPM is hoping the federal government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and Export Finance Australia will provide loans, much of the funds needed for its project are expected to come from international banks and investors, particularly in Korea.

“To me the biggest issues are risk aversion in Australia and the speed at which things get done,” Mr Grocott said.

Korean companies are supplying EV batteries to car makers around the world and are keen to diversify their supply of critical minerals which at present are sourced mostly from China.

There is also concern about environmental damage in source countries like PNG and Indonesia.

The Australia-Korea Business Council has identified QPM’s TECH project among those which will broaden an already strong trading relationship with Korea.

It says Australia can be a reliable supplier of critical materials to allow Korea to move towards a lower carbon future, while Korea can help Australia unlock an additional annual income of $7.4bn and 34,700 jobs.

NQ battery metals trade to provide thousands of jobs