C. Australian list of critical minerals

Table C.1Australian list of critical minerals

Critical mineral		On US list [1]	On EU list [2]	On Japan list [3]	On India list [4]	Australia’s geological potential [5]	Australia’s economic demonstrated resource [6]	Australian production	Global production (2020)[7]
1	High purity alumina	Yes [8]	Yes [9]	No	No	Moderate	No data	No data	No data
2	Antimony	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Moderate	125.2 kt	3.9 kt	155 kt
3	Beryllium	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Moderate	No data	No data	240
4	Bismuth	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Moderate	No data	No data	17 kt
5	Chromium	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Moderate	0	0	40000 kt
6	Cobalt	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	High	1495 kt	5.6 kt	135 kt
7	Gallium	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	High	No data	No data	300 t
8	Germanium	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	High	No data	No data	130 t
9	Graphite	Yes	Yes	Yes [10]	Yes	Moderate	7970 kt	0	1100 kt
10	Hafnium	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	High	14.5 kt	No data	No data
11	Helium	No	No	No	No	Moderate	No data	4 hm3	140 hm3
12	Indium	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Moderate	No data	No data	900 t
13	Lithium	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	High	6174 kt	40 kt	82 kt
14	Magnesium	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	High	Magnesite: 286000 kt	Magnesite: 799kt	Magnesite: 26000kt
15	Manganese	Yes	No	Yes	No	High	Manganese ore: 276000kt	Manganese ore: 4800kt	17200kt
16	Niobium	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	High	216 kt	No data	78 kt
17	Platinum-group elements	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Moderate	107 t	0.522 t	380 t
18	Rare-earth elements	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	High	4200kt	20 kt	240 kt
19	Rhenium	No	No	Yes	Yes	Moderate	No data	No data	53 t
20	Scandium	Yes	Yes	No	No	High	30.34 kt	No data	No data
21	Silicon	No	Yes [11]	Yes	Yes	High	No data	No data	8 kt
22	Tantalum	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	High	99.4 kt	0.1 kt	1.8 kt
23	Titanium	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	High	Ilmenite: 274000 kt Rutile: 35300 kt	Ilmenite: 1100 kt Rutile: 200 kt	Ilmenite: 12000 kt Rutile: 1000 kt
24	Tungsten	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	High	577 kt	Less than 1 kt	84 kt
25	Vanadium	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	High	7408 kt	0	86 kt
26	Zirconium	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	High	Zircon: 79300 kt	Zircon: 400 kt	Zircon: 2000 kt

Source: Department of Industry, Sciences and Resources, Australia’s Critical Minerals List, www.industry.gov.au/publications/australias-critical-minerals-list, viewed 29 June 2023.

Footnotes

[1]J Burton, U.S. Geological Survey Releases 2022 List of Critical Minerals, United States Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Department of the Interior, Federal Government of the United States, 2022, accessed 3 March 2022.

[2]Joint Research Centre, The Fourth List of Critical Raw Materials for the EU, European Commission, 2020, accessed 3 March 2022.

[3]J Nakano, translation of a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) publication as presented in The Geopolitics of Critical Minerals Supply Chains, Centre for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), 2021, p 22, accessed 3 March 2022.

[4]V Gupta, T Biswas and K Ganesan, Critical Non-Fuel Mineral Resources for India’s Manufacturing Sector—A Vision for 2030, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) and Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, 2016, pp. 73–74, accessed 3 March 2022.

[5]Geoscience Australia, Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources 2021, Geoscience Australia, Australian Government, unpublished, accessed 3 March 2022.

[6]Geoscience Australia, Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources 2021, [dataset], Geoscience Australia, Australian Government, accessed 3 March 2022.

[7]Geoscience Australia, using estimated world production from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2021, adjusted with reported Australian production in the dataset of Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources 2021, accessed 17 January 2022.

[8]The United States identifies aluminium as a critical mineral.

[9]The European Union identifies bauxite (an ore of aluminium) as critical.

[10]Japan identifies carbon (which forms graphite) as a critical mineral.

[11]The European Union identifies silicon metal as a critical mineral.