Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese discussed critical minerals in a phone call yesterday with US President Donald Trump.
The PM said in a post on social media platform X that he had “another warm and constructive conversation” with the US president and they discussed the two countries’ trade and economic relationship “as well as areas for growth including critical minerals”.
It was the fourth phone call between the two leaders. The PM has not yet secured a face-to-face meeting with the President.
The Federal Government has been keen to negotiate exemptions to US tariffs on imports, which include a 50 per cent tariff on aluminium and steel, with some viewing US access to Australia’s critical mineral deposits as a bartering chip in trade talks.
The most recent call between the Albanese and Trump follows the August visit to the White House by BHP chief executive officer Mike Henry and his Rio Tinto counterpart Simon Trott, as well as Trott’s predecessor at Rio Tinto, Jakob Stausholm.
The BHP and Rio Tinto executives visited the White House to advocate for US copper projects, particularly the BHP–Rio Tinto Resolution Copper joint venture, which has been embroiled in red tape and legal issues for the better part of two decades.
The meeting at the White House highlighted the importance of Australian miners to the US, as the US Government sought to secure critical supply chains for its defence and technology industries.
Following the August 21 meeting, Henry thanked the US Government “for their strong leadership to reinvigorate mining and processing supply chains in and for America”.
“Resolution Copper is one of the largest untapped, high grade copper resources in the US today and will create thousands of high value local jobs in Arizona and billions in economic activity across America,” he said in a statement on LinkedIn.
“Copper is essential to everyday life as a critical component in powerlines, smartphones, medical equipment, cars, and data centres. Demand for copper is growing strongly.
“The world needs more mining to build the future.”
On the back of the White House meeting, Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, told a forum in August that Australia could become “a great power – if not a superpower – in critical minerals and rare earths”.
“We have the biggest mining industry and the largest mining companies in the world,” the former Prime Minister told the forum, hosted by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. “Most of the periodic table is under our soil. (And) now we’re adding processing.”
Rudd added the caveat that both countries had to get their policy settings right to capitalise on the opportunity.
“The missing piece is pricing, and we’ll work that out with our partners,” he said. “If we get it right, Australia will become a great power – if not a superpower – in critical minerals and rare earths.”
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