Critical Minerals Assessment

摘要: Critical minerals assessment (CMA) is concerned with the mineral inputs to a system, the risks of a disruption to supply occurring, and the impacts that such a disruption would have. The focus in this White Paper is on CMA for minerals that are input to the economy of a sovereign entity. The first comprehensive CMA was published for the US in 2008. Since then many sovereign entities have conducted and published CMAs, particularly those with large industrialised economies that are reliant on the importation of minerals and raw materials derived from minerals.Australia’s main interest in CMA is as a potential supplier of critical minerals to the global market. It sees the criticality of minerals as an opportunity. Australia is indeed a major exporter of minerals and has the potential to increase the supply of minerals that other sovereign entities deem critical. However, Australia’s large exports mask the fact that it is also a significant importer of minerals and minerals-derived materials (USD15b pa). Australia’s economic exposure to critical minerals has not been examined in the same way as it has been for other major economies. This is a gap that should be addressed and gives rise to the first recommendation of this White Paper.