Event - 2026 July 1st Luncheon

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So many buzzwords ! Critical minerals, global emissions reduction, supply chain dominance, letters of support, strategic minerals, $1.2bn critical minerals strategic reserve, price floors, expand domestic processing, defence capability, advanced manufacturing, $17bn production tax credits, $4bn critical minerals facility, offtake agreements, enviable geology, geopolitical tensions …. And I haven’t even made it past page 13 of the Minerals Council of Australia’s excellent publication “Good Guide to Critical Minerals”.

Remember Albo in the US in October last year at that meeting with everyone’s favourite orange president where he threw K Rudd under the bus ……. ?  Well, it seems words are rapidly turning into actions, with the western world clearly concerned about Chinese dominance of the rare earths supply chain and their recent propensity for banning exports of some critical minerals. Arafura has recently received the government green light under ‘significant project’ status to fast-track development of its long life (circa 40 years) Nolan’s Rare Earth Project in the Northern Territory to produce neodymium and praseodymium. These unpronounceables are primarily used for magnet manufacture, with other uses in superalloys, medical and industrial lasers, optical glass, hard drives and ceramics. Very useful uses by anyone’s reckoning. Construction of the project, incorporating a processing plant and open pit operation will swing into action later this calendar year, about an hour and a half drive north of Alice Springs in the NT.

Albo meeting Trump, Rudd under a bus, Gina Rinehart on the share register, Export Finance Australia (EFA) and US Export Import bank (EXIM) involvement, critical minerals supply chain shenanigans, geopolitical ructions, government level interventions to seismically shift the established market in an entire sector …… it’s got all the makings of a fascinating discussion if not a future feature movie !

So many questions. What government support have Arafura received to underwrite the decision to proceed to construction – US and Australian equity funding, significant project status, price floors, letters of intent, offtake agreements ? What was it about Nolan’s that enabled it to achieve ‘significant project’ status over other projects ? What type of plant is being constructed and what is the final product ? Does the final product require further downstream processing (will it require metallising and alloying prior to end uses) and if so can this occur outside China ?  Can these government interventions create an enduring market outside China’s pricing advantage and internal market support mechanisms and how will this all work longer term ?

If you’re in the resources sector or related industries, you owe it to yourself to become much wiser about these fascinating recent developments in the Australian resources market. The best way to do this is to be in the room at Optus Stadium’s River Room on Wednesday July 1^st – ticket sales close a week prior. Please note it’s on a Wednesday and not the usual Thursday. Turn up on the right day to avoid disappointment. This is so topical and up-to-the-minute that it’s likely to sell out – buy a ticket now while it’s fresh in your memory. Don’t be one of those people in the week of the event begging Cassandra for a ticket because you forgot to book ……

See you all there !

Rob Humphryson

WA Mining Club Speaker Engagement Lead

Thank you to our event sponsors:

If you are interested in sponsoring this event, please contact Cassandra at events@waminingclub.asn.au