Western Australia has refreshed its Critical Minerals Strategy for 2024–2030, updating key activities to support the development of its battery and critical minerals industries.
The last time WA refreshed the strategy was in 2020, and the WA Government has cited the growth of the industry and changes in the international investment environment as reasons for the update.
The current near-term priority actions for the WA Government include:
- creating a more efficient approvals system
- planning and investing in common user infrastructure
- targeted support for strategically important projects.
“Since 2015, there has been more than $9 billion of investment in WA’s critical minerals processing industries,” WA Premier Roger Cook said. “Critical minerals are the centrepiece of WA’s economic diversification story and we are working to position our State as a major global leader in downstream processing.
“This refreshed strategy was developed through consultation with key stakeholders and received more than 50 submissions following a public discussion paper released last year.
“It sets out key actions to further grow investment in the sector by playing to Western Australia’s strengths, to maximise outcomes for Western Australians.”
The refreshed Critical Minerals Strategy will work in harmony with the WA Government’s $36.4 million investment into speeding up approvals for job-creating projects and boosting the state’s approvals framework.
Employment in the WA resources sector was at a record level this year, with sales on production hitting a near-record of $248 billion for the calendar year.
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