PRESS RELEASE : UK charges up ties with Western Australia in new critical minerals pledge [April 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 4 April 2023.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan travels to Western Australia to sign critical minerals pledge and inaugurate new Consulate-General in Perth.

• UK Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP travels to Western Australia to sign joint UK-Australia pledge to secure future supplies of critical minerals and inaugurate new Consulate-General in Perth
• Indo-Pacific Minister to meet Resources Minister Madeleine King in Perth on Tuesday (4 April) to sign letter of intent and discuss how to secure supplies of minerals that will power a net zero future
• Part of UK strategy to diversify global supply chains of critical minerals, amidst growing geopolitical competition for resources

The UK’s Indo-Pacific Minister, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, begins a visit to Western Australia today (2 April), focussed on working with Australia to futureproof supplies of minerals that will be central to delivering the world’s net zero pledges.

The Minister will meet Federal Government Minister for Resources, Madeleine King, on Tuesday (4 April) to sign a joint pledge to boost the global supply of critical minerals such as the lithium used in electric vehicle batteries.

Minister for the Indo-Pacific Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

Critical minerals will be a driving force in the world’s journey to net zero, and the UK and Australia are digging deep to futureproof supplies of the materials that power our phones, our cars, and uncountable other aspects of modern life.

Australia’s unmatched production capacity, combined with the UK’s mineral trading and finance expertise, will boost global supplies, help protect supply chains from future shocks, and support thousands of skilled, high-paying jobs.

The International Energy Agency expects that as the need for electronics and battery technology comes to permeate every aspect of the modern economy, the global demand for critical minerals will grow four-fold by 2040. Australia is the world’s top producer of lithium, with the Greenbushes Mine, 210 kilometres (131 miles) due south of Perth, producing 40% of Australia’s lithium alone in 2021.

Meanwhile, the London Metals Exchange remains the world’s centre of minerals trading and finance, and the UK is a leading expert in processing as well as a top international deal-broker.

The two countries will also work together to promote the highest environmental, social and governance standards in critical minerals markets.

The Minister will visit Rio Tinto’s operations centre in Perth, see the world’s largest bulk export port at Port Hedland, and meet with the Chairman of Alkemy, Paul Atherley, whose firm will supply lithium to a planned refining facility in Teesside, in the North-East of England.

She will also officially inaugurate the new British Consulate General in Perth, which, combined with Tuesday’s pledge, underlines the UK’s commitment to build diplomatic and economic ties across the whole continent of Australia.