The commitment of a further $500M to kickstart the minerals’ processing industry is tipped to boost the economy and create thousands of new jobs.

The Federal Government says the funding could create $133.5 billion in new economic activity and 262,600 new jobs by 2040.

At the same time it has announced a review of the Australia’s critical minerals list by 2026. The Federal Government wants Australia to be a significant producer of raw and processed critical minerals by 2030.

Australia has some of the largest untapped deposits of minerals including cobalt, lithium, manganese, rare earth elements, tungsten and vanadium.

It is hoped the focus on the industry will lead to further downstream processing of minerals used in  batteries, electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels, in Australia.

The strategy also aims to encourage further international investment in downstream processing and manufacturing sectors.

Another key plank of the strategy is to encourage international investment in downstream processing and manufacturing sectors.