24/09/26
Australia must back shared critical mineral hubs: panel
Australia must back shared critical mineral hubs: panel
Sydney, 24 September (Argus) — Australia must invest in critical minerals common
user facilities to lower costs for early-stage developers, speed up
qualification testing with overseas customers, and support industry growth,
attendees at this week's AusIMM Critical Minerals Conference in Brisbane heard.
Queensland's vanadium-focused A$115mn ($81mn) Queensland Resources Common User
Facility (QRCUF) will be fully operational by November, and will speed up
project development significantly over the next 18-24 months, the government-run
project's lead, Paul Holden, said on 22 September. The facility's ore crusher,
flotation circuit, concentrate roaster, atmospheric leacher, and thermal
purifier were designed with vanadium processing in mind, but parts of the
facility are also applicable for rare earths, cobalt, and graphite processing.
The QRCUF helps small mineral developers bridge the gap between pilot-scale
processing and commercial-scale production by providing a shared facility for
demonstration-scale bulk samples. This will avoid duplicated government
investment in multiple privately owned facilities and lower barriers to entry
for value-added processing, Holden said. Australian graphite and anode material
developer Graphinex started using the ore crusher and flotation circuit at the
QRCUF this month to produce bulk samples of its graphite products for
qualification with South Korean and Japanese customers. While Graphinex has its
own 300 t/yr active anode material demonstration facility in Townsville, the ore
crusher at the QRCUF is ten times the size of the company's own crusher,
allowing bulk samples to be prepared within weeks instead of months, the company
told Argus . Australian developer Vecco has also signed on to use the facility
to demonstrate production capability for its high purity vanadium pentoxide and
vanadium electrolyte products, as the company prepares to make a final
investment decision (FID) on its planned 300 MWh/yr Townsville electrolyte
plant. Planned facility in Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is currently
undertaking a feasibility study for its own Critical Minerals Advanced
Processing (CMAP) common user facility near Perth. The facility must narrow
product streams in its early stages to ensure a high utilisation rate and avoid
becoming a white elephant, chief executive of the Minerals Research Institute of
WA (MRIWA) Nicole Roocke said. MRIWA has not yet decided on the scope of CMAP,
but it will not duplicate the capabilities of the Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the Australian Nuclear Science and
Technology Organisation (ANTSO), the QRCUF, or commercial labs. MRIWA is
planning a pod-based design, allowing users to bring some of their own equipment
for processing. The facility could also be used by technology providers to
demonstrate the efficacy of their processes at scale, Roocke said. Rare earths
should not be prioritised in the early stages of either CMAP or QRCUF due to the
complexity and cost of processing them, mining firm Australian Strategic
Materials country manager Wayne Dicinoski said, citing the rising cost of
sulphuric acid, a key reagent. Argus -assessed sulphuric acid fob China was last
assessed at $290/t on 17 September, up by 314pc year on year ( see graph ).
Recovery of valuable metals from WA's abundant mine tailings waste could be one
path forward for the facility, critical minerals lead for engineering firm GHD
Sam Taylor said. There are more than 1,000 tailings storage facilities in WA,
with more than two thirds of sites at inactive projects, according to the WA
government. By Daniel Gage-Brown Sulphuric acid prices 2025-26 USD/t Send
comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright ©
2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
