Full text.Hunt for critical mineral processing partners to...

Full text.

Hunt for critical mineral processing partners to provide alternative to ChinaBy defence correspondent Andrew Greene 2 hrs agoComments|4Representatives from Australia's critical minerals sector have met with South Korea's President, Moon Jae-in, to discuss further collaboration between both nations. (ABC News: Emma Machan)© Provided by ABC Business Representatives from Australia's critical minerals sector have met with South Korea's President, Moon Jae-in, to discuss further collaboration between both nations. (ABC News: Emma Machan)You might not know neodymium or dysprosium — but they know you.These and other rare earth elements are our constant companions.They are essential to the modern world and can be found inside mobile phones, batteries and even cosmetics. And many of them are becoming ever-more vital to the clean energy economy. Advanced military equipment depends on them: F-35 Joint Strike Fighters need half a tonne of rare earth metals to get airborne, underscoring the strategic importance of supply.While Australia is rich in many critical minerals and their extraction is worth billions of dollars to the economy, China controls more than 90 per cent of processing, prompting the developed world to explore alternatives.The search for alternatives to China has been a key focus of this week's visit of the South Korean President, Moon Jae-in.That's because the refining of rare earth minerals is a hugely expensive process, which can be complicated by environmental concerns such as radioactive waste.Australian Strategical Materials (ASM), a rare earth miner based in New South Wales, is one company hoping to diversity its business with a new plant in South Korea to produce metals used in magnets. "We've found the Koreans, they have found their way to us, and at the end of the end of the day the relationship is top class. They have a focus on long-term, stable supply,” ASM chair Ian Gandel says.Australia supplies around 40 per cent of South Korea's critical mineral imports, those that are crucial for many of the components needed to drive the world's economies to net zero emissions by 2050.Earlier this year, both countries clinched a "low and zero emissions technology partnership" and this week signed an MOU on cooperation in the critical mineral supply chain.In Sydney, representatives from Australia's critical minerals sector met with the South Korean President to discuss further collaboration between both nations."We had an opportunity to talk to the President and put some of our challenges to him," said Joe Kaderavek, the chief executive of Cobalt Blue Holdings, a project based in Broken Hill."What I understood is happening at the moment is some of those questions are being addressed and, looking forward, in the next few months there'll be more policy rollout," Mr Kaderavek told the ABC after the meeting.In September, the Morrison government unveiled a $2 billion taxpayer-guaranteed loan facility to help the critical minerals industry develop more mines for producing lithium and rare earths. Senior federal government figures say that developing new supply chains for critical minerals with other "like-minded democracies" is crucial but concede financing new operations is a constant challenge.China's dominance of the critical minerals supply chain globally is a concern for Mr Gandel, but one he's remaining optimistic about. "China's recognised what needed to be done, they saw the future coming and they've tooled up to meet all of that production — the rest of the world has just been a little bit slower off the mark but it's got a long way to go," he said.Environmental concerns are also considered another key stumbling block for expanding the sector outside China, illustrated by last month's rejection by the Victorian government of a controversial mineral sands mine in the state's east. The United States is also working closely with Australia and, in February, the Pentagon signed a contract with Australian miner Lynas to process specialised minerals to make weapons and other goods.Last month in Singapore, Australia's Trade Minister Dan Tehan discussed critical minerals collaboration with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, including how to build "resilient supply chains in the Indo-Pacific".Video: Andrew Forrest explores hydrogen hub in Hunter (Sky News Australia)