Australia Joins The Rare Earth Reserve Rush
Australia will begin purchasing and storing key minerals for defense and high-tech industries from local miners as part of a A$1.2 billion ($802 million) national reserve aimed at strengthening global supply chains, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reports that the initial stockpile will target rare earths, antimony and gallium, according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Resources Minister Madeleine King and Trade Minister Don Farrell. As one of the largest rare-earth producers outside China, Australia hopes the move will reduce Beijing’s leverage over critical resources.
Critical minerals have become a flashpoint in global trade disputes, particularly after China used its market dominance during trade tensions with the US. That has driven other nations to see local production and reserves as strategic priorities.
“Developing the Strategic Reserve is another important step in Australia leading on critical minerals globally,” Chalmers said. The stockpile will ensure “Australia is at the center of efforts to build stable and reliable supply chains for our international partners.”
Mining stocks rose on the news, with Lynas Rare Earths climbing up to 6.5% and Larvotto Resources jumping 8.8%. Larvotto, which is developing one of the world’s largest antimony projects, welcomed the move.
“The federal government is leading from the front on this, and we’re extremely happy antimony is one of the focuses,” said CEO Ron Meeks. “We will produce 7% of the world’s antimony, so we will be one of the largest suppliers. We’ll start production in August.”
The strategy follows China’s recent rare-earth export restrictions on Japan and builds on last year’s US-Australia agreement to expand American access to critical minerals, a deal covering roughly A$13 billion in projects. Officials also say the reserve could help stabilize prices and shield producers from future market downturns driven by cheap Chinese supply.
Rare earths are vital for permanent magnets used in defense and medical systems, while antimony supports electronics and flame retardants, and gallium is essential for advanced semiconductors in radar and communications.
Of course, we have been documenting the "rare earth revolution" since summer of last year, when we wrote that China’s export controls on key rare earth elements—especially the “heavy” ones used in high-performance permanent magnets—were creating shortages and price distortions outside China, exposing how dependent the world is on China for mined, refined, and magnet-ready material.
We noted that this mattered because rare earth magnets are foundational to today’s EVs, electronics, wind power, and defense systems, and they’re expected to be even more important for future robotics/humanoids.
With supply security viewed as a national-security issue, we correctly noted that governments and customers were prioritizing “ex-China” supply chains even if costs rise, and that shift is likely to support higher rare earth pricing and premium economics for the limited number of existing non-China players.