Lithium Valley Main Report 2018
WA is perfectly positioned to capitalise on its natural bounty. There have been missed opportunities to better maximise the North West shelf, the Australian Marine Complex, the iron ore boom and most recently the natural gas projects. The chances of maximising more of the value from WA’s finite resources will improve with greater collaboration between government, within government, industry and the community as well as articulating a clear vision and strategy. “The gas boom came and went with few residual benefits apart from royalties. The significant engineering expertise, research and development and manufacturing was mainly completed overseas. We need to be smarter to avoid repeating “the North West Shelf - A sea of lost opportunities?” findings. WA needs a plan and strategy otherwise the long term benefits of the current New Energy metals boom will be lost.” Marine engineering executive - Perth “
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“It should be recognised that the Chinese-owned Tianqi Lithium chose Kwinana as a refining facility for lithium hydroxide from a variety of worldwide options. This highlights that sovereign risk issues now outweigh commercial issues as Tianqi aims to be a reliable global supplier.” Industry executive - Innovate Australia’s Advanced Minerals Forum - May 2018
In June 2018 the Indian government mandated all State-owned mineral-based companies to pool their resources to acquire lithium and cobalt assets overseas. This is a high profile example of a democratic government seeking to lead bi-lateral international negotiations to secure Critical Raw Materials. Australia and WA are ideally placed to enter into bi-lateral negotiations with India to formulate a mutually beneficial deal. http://www.miningweekly.com/print-version/indian-state- owned-firms-mandated-to-acquire-overseas-lithium-and- cobalt-assets-2018-06-22
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