Australia’s position as a globally-significant rare earth and critical mineral supplier of the future was cemented in a meeting with Korean President Moon Jae-In and Australian miners in Sydney this week.
The Australia-Korea Business Council (AKBC) co-hosted a meeting between the Korean President Moon Jae-In and some of Australia’s leading and most ambitious miners – Ian Gandel (Chairman, Australian Strategic Materials) Stephen Grocott (Managing Director, Queensland Pacific Metals) and Joe Kaderavek (CEO, Cobalt Blue Holdings). Tom Seymour (CEO, PWC Australia) and HE Catherine Raper (Australia’s Ambassador to the Republic of Korea) also attended.
The visit by the Korean President sent a strong signal that the Australia-Korea relationship is a significant one, and that the long-term, stable supply of critical minerals is a key priority to Korea, one of the world’s great technology powerhouses.
The event, co-hosted by the AKBC, Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and KOTRA (Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency), was a historically significant event. The last official visit by a Korean President was in 2009. It was the only official meeting with Australian business that the President attended during his recent visit to the country.
AKBC’s Chairman Hon Simon Crean, who spoke at the meeting, said of the 35 minerals that Korea has deemed critical, Australia produces 24 of them.
“The opportunity is there to streamline supply chains and value add in downstream processing in minerals. In that context, Australia wants to be Korea’s partner of choice. We want to work with the Republic of Korea to prevent supply chain risks in this vital mineral sector.
“Our members believe the solution lies in the triple helix approach – government, business and academia should work more comprehensively to strengthen long-term mutually-beneficial partnerships that will result in prosperity for both Australia and Korea. Both countries can be cemented in the development of industries of the future which need critical minerals – renewables, high-tech, energy produced sustainably. Both governments have to play a role setting targets, together with policy settings and infrastructure provision, that will stimulate investments.
“We believe investments should be extended beyond the minesite in Australia and hope for increasingly significant partnerships with Korea in the processing and the development of new technologies going forward.
AKBC Executive Director Liz Griffin said early next year several Korean companies and delegations are expected to come to Australia to meet with mining companies and do their due diligence.
“In the medium term, we are likely to see a range of MOUs being signed between Australian and Korean companies and hopefully this will then transition to investment and off-take deals.
“We also want to see greater collaboration in value-adding activities such as downstream processing, separation, refining and manufacturing in Australia. This is part of the Australian Government’s push for the sector.
“We also need to see more collaboration between governments, particularly around access to capital that is flexible and meets the specific needs of our miners to get these projects up and running. Our members have reported that securing financing from the Australian Government is key to securing buy-in from Korean. Finally, greater collaboration in the R&D space is on the agenda.”