A new report from PwC has revealed that there is a gap between Australia’s critical minerals ambitions and the number of projects progressing towards construction and production, as international markets seek secure supplies of minerals needed for the energy transition.
The report, Can we get serious now? Securing Australia’s critical minerals future, shows that Australia has more than 900 critical minerals projects in its pipeline, but only 13 are currently at a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) stage and may still be two to four years away from reaching a Final Investment Decision (FID).
Of the 907 critical minerals projects identified nationwide, 675 or 74 per cent of them remain in exploration or reserves development. PwC found that 90 per cent of projects are between three and six years away from a FID, with more complex projects potentially taking up to a decade to reach the milestone.
Only six projects formally reached FID between 2022 and mid-2026, while just eight processing facility projects were identified across the project pool, representing about one per cent of the total.
PwC said Australia needs to focus on projects most likely to reach construction, while also making greater use of shared infrastructure and strengthening buyer and revenue backing for projects.
It also identified ageing refining and smelting sites as potential locations for new critical minerals processing capacity.
PWC said while the Federal Government has been proactive in developing critical minerals policy, existing incentives are largely directed towards projects that are already producing rather than those in earlier stages of development.
