Right Place - Right Time

This is an extract only, from today's AFR.
Interestingly, we here on HC have been saying the same thing for the last 12 mths - it just takes the various Govt boffins that long to figure out that the Chinese Govt is way ahead of them!

And here is IXR which can relieve much of the supply shortage, using its tech in Recycling, Processing and in long term supply of Heavies from Makuutu.

If any of Rubio's angst filters down to the negotiators, then IXR should get a deal in USA over the line soon.

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‘Vehicle for action’: Rubio tells Quad to prioritise critical minerals

Washington | The Quad alliance needs to be less about talk and more about action on economic and security co-operation, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told foreign ministers, including Australia’s Penny Wong, at the group’s biannual meeting in Washington.

A priority here was more collaboration between the US, Australia, India, and Japan on the mining, refining and sourcing of the so-called critical minerals used in the production of defence, technology and clean energy equipment, he said. These include lithium, nickel, copper and a range of rare earth elements.

China’s grip on the production of rare earths in particular has given Beijing leverage in its trade talks with the US.

“One of the challenges … with something new like this is turning meetings and gatherings where we talk about ideas and concepts into a vehicle for action,” Rubio said to the press.

Rubio met Wong and their Indian and Japanese counterparts in Washington on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) and urged the four-nation grouping to ensure their regular meetings worked towards improved regional security and economic opportunities.

China has a stranglehold on the processing and supply of many critical minerals, prompting countries such as Japan to invest in Australian mines and refining facilities or sign early purchase agreements in the quest for access to the commodities.

The Albanese government has offered the Trump administration preferential access to a planned critical minerals stockpile, which it would build from domestic sources, as a bargaining chip in negotiations to get a carve-out from tariffs on imports from Australia. The offer, however, has so far fallen on deaf ears.

Rubio said that access to raw and processed minerals was important for a range of technologies and industries. “And so having a diverse and reliable global supply chain of these is just one example of many that we can focus on and build upon and achieve some real progress on.”