1. Critical metals and minerals: An Australian perspective
Dr Roger Skirrow
Resources Division, Geoscience Australia
Four Mile uranium deposit, SA

2. Your mobile phone contains over 50 elements*
BUT SOME OF THESE METALS AND SEMI-METALS ARE SUBJECT TO HIGH RISK OF SUPPLY
Approximately 1.5 billion mobile phones are sold each year, consuming (in value order):
Gold (~51 tonnes, t)
Palladium (~22.5 t)
Copper (~4,000 t)
Silver (~525 t)
Platinum (~510 kg)
Also requiring . . .
Rare-earth elements (REE)
Tantalum
Indium
Tin
Titanium
Lithium
Gallium
Cobalt
* If you have a recent-model smartphone (
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

3. Critical commodities – what are they?
US National Academy of Sciences (2008)
Economic impact of supply restriction
4 (high) 2 3
1 (low)
Rhodium
Manganese
Indium
Palladium
Rare-earth
elements
Gallium
Copper
(non-
critical)
Tantalum
Vanadium
Titanium
Lithium
Definition: metals, non-metals and minerals that perform an essential economic function but are subject to a high risk of supply.
(‘Strategic commodities’ are those important for military purposes)
Supply risk factors:
Geological scarcity
Lack of substitution or recycling
Geopolitical instability
Concentration of production and/or processing in particular countries or companies
Lack of large-scale markets
Production only as a by-product
Limited methods of recovery
High
criticality
Platinum
Niobium
Low
criticality
Supply risk
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

4. Uses of critical commodities
Industry / usage
Critical metals and minerals
Steel-making and super-alloys (Fe-based)
Cr, V, Ni, Mo, Co, Re, Nb
Light alloys (e.g. in cars, aircraft; Al-based)
Ti, Sc
Industrial processing (catalysts etc)
PGE, REE, Li, Ti, Zr, He, Sb
Electronics & high-tech
In, REE, PGE, Li, Ga, Ta, Nb
Low-emissions energy production
REE, In, Sb, Ga
Low-emissions energy usage (e.g. batteries)
REE, PGE, Li, Ni, Co, graphite
Water & food security
PGE, Cr, Ti, potash, phosphate
Catalytic converters in cars:
platinum & palladium (PGE)
Industrial catalysts: woven thread of platinum
Magnets in turbines: REE (e.g. neodymium)
Super-alloys: rhenium in jet engine turbines
High-efficiency photo-voltaic: Te, In, Ga, Cd
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

5. Demand: Leading importers of critical commodities
Source: UNComtrade, 2012
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

6. Supply: Leading producers of critical commodities
Li, Zr (Al)
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015
Source: BGS World Mineral Statistics

7. Case 1: platinum-group elements (PGE)
(platinum, palladium, rhodium, osmium, iridium, ruthenium)
$25 billion in import value (2012)*
Supply dominated by 2 countries
South African supply at risk
Australia has few known resources
What is potential?
*Import value for top 5 countries in 2012: ~$25 billion USD (UNComtrade, Dec 2012)
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

8. Case 2: rare-earth elements (REE)
(the REE are NOT RARE! Family of 17 metals including 15 lanthanides, scandium and yttrium)
Demand 2014
(source: Roskill)
Supply 2014
(Source: Roskill)
Neodymium production, and forecast supply and demand
historical data
future estimates
batteries in electric vehicles
year
Sources: past production from USGS (2013); supply forecasts from Roskill, Chegwinden & Kingsnorth (2010) and Kara et al. (2010)
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

9. Rare-earth element resources
Australia holds 2.2% of world’s REE economic resources but some of world’s largest sub-economic resources
(Geoscience Australia, Dec 2013)

10. Critical commodities – Australia’s opportunities to supply global demand
Australia is a relatively small consumer of CCs, mostly in imported goods
Potash and phosphate (as in ‘NPK’) are some of the few critical to Australian industries (agriculture)
However, a review by Geoscience Australia (2013) highlighted Australia’s resources of, and potential for, many critical commodities
These represent opportunities to supply critical commodities to Australia’s trading partners
Also opportunities for value-adding (e.g., processing, manufacturing)

11. Geoscience Australia’s assessment of critical commodities
34 metal, non-metal and mineral commodities assessed
Level of criticality determined by ranking commodities in ‘risk lists’ of the UK, EU, USA, Republic of Korea and Japan
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

12. Geoscience Australia’s assessment of critical commodities
(very high)
34 metal, non-metal and mineral commodities assessed
Level of criticality determined by ranking commodities in ‘risk lists’ of the UK, EU, USA, Republic of Korea and Japan
Categories of resource potential indicate level of opportunity for Australian mineral resource industries
Based on known resources and geological favourability
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

13. Geoscience Australia’s assessment of critical commodities
(high)
34 metal, non-metal and mineral commodities assessed
Level of criticality determined by ranking commodities in ‘risk lists’ of the UK, EU, USA, Republic of Korea and Japan
Categories of resource potential indicate level of opportunity for Australian mineral resource industries
Based on known resources and geological favourability
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

14. Geoscience Australia’s assessment of critical commodities
(moderate)
34 metal, non-metal and mineral commodities assessed
Level of criticality determined by ranking commodities in ‘risk lists’ of the UK, EU, USA, Republic of Korea and Japan
Categories of resource potential indicate level of opportunity for Australian mineral resource industries
Based on known resources and geological favourability
34 metal, non-metal and mineral commodities assessed by Geoscience Australia
Level of criticality is based on UK, EU, US, Republic of Korea and Japan stated priorities, and reflects risk of supply and economic importance of commodity
Categories of resource potential indicate level of opportunity for Australian mineral resource industries
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

15. Geoscience Australia’s assessment of critical commodities
34 metal, non-metal and mineral commodities assessed
Level of criticality determined by ranking commodities in ‘risk lists’ of the UK, EU, USA, Republic of Korea and Japan
Categories of resource potential indicate level of opportunity for Australian mineral resource industries
Based on known resources and geological favourability
34 metal, non-metal and mineral commodities assessed by Geoscience Australia
Level of criticality is based on UK, EU, US, Republic of Korea and Japan stated priorities, and reflects risk of supply and economic importance of commodity
Categories of resource potential indicate level of opportunity for Australian mineral resource industries
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

16. Australia’s inventory of critical and other elements
Elements concentrated in ore deposits derived from Earth’s mantle
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

17. Australia’s potential for mantle-derived deposits of Ni, Cu, PGE, Cr, V
Study of Ni-Cu-PGE potential by Geoscience Australia just completed; 1st of its kind for the nation
Identified areas of known deposits
Also predicts many other areas with potential for Ni- Cu-PGE deposits
Information for mineral exploration companies to reduce their risk in exploration targeting
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

18. Australia’s potential for critical commodities: tungsten, tin, lithium, REE related to granites
Also zirconium, niobium, tantalum, beryllium
Geological potential currently being investigated by Geoscience Australia
Tungsten and lithium: Australia has 11% of world’s resources of each
Tungsten-tin province
Tantalum-tin-lithium provinces
Tin-tungsten provinces
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

19. Geoscience Australia delivers national datasets to support exploration
1:1m Surface Geology
Gravity
Radiometrics
Magnetics
To support mineral exploration including uranium exploration, Geoscience Australia produces new and improved National-scale datasets. These include seamless surface geology at 1:1 million scale, improved gravity and magnetics, and a national radiometrics dataset which images radioactivity from uranium, thorium and potassium at the earth’s surface.
These datasets are fundamental in exploration area selection and targeting in frontier and greenfields regions, and help lower the risks of investing in these regions by providing greater certainty about the geology and mineral potential.
Data from Geoscience Australia and State/NT Geological Surveys
Critical metals and minerals - Resources & Energy Workshop 2015

20. Critical Commodities – An Australian perspective
Global demand high & rising, particularly in high-tech sectors
Global supply subject to risks
Australia has major resources and potential
Opportunity for Australia to provide assured supply of critical commodities