❓ Ms. Stephens questions the Minister about the government's partnership with Korean trading partners in the battery and critical minerals sector. The Minister highlights investments, a recent trip to Korea, and a memorandum of understanding to enhance technological exchange.
AnsweredQoN 215Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FUTURE BATTERY AND
CRITICAL MINERALS SECTOR
215. Ms R.S. STEPHENS to the Minister for Mines and
Petroleum:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to developing Western Australia's
battery and critical mineral sector.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how this government's partnership with
Korean trading partners is building capacity in Western Australia's
critical mining sector?
(2) Can the minister advise the house how this
partnership will help drive further innovation in WA's mining industry?
CRITICAL MINERALS SECTOR
215. Ms R.S. STEPHENS to the Minister for Mines and
Petroleum:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to developing Western Australia's
battery and critical mineral sector.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how this government's partnership with
Korean trading partners is building capacity in Western Australia's
critical mining sector?
(2) Can the minister advise the house how this
partnership will help drive further innovation in WA's mining industry?
AnswerView source ↗
I am very pleased
to answer this question from the outstanding member for Albany.
(1)–(2) I
just remind people that the south west of Western Australia is actually a major
mining province in Western Australia with many jobs and opportunities flowing
from that. It includes, of course, downstream processing like the Albemarle
processing facility in Kemerton that takes feedstock from the world's
number one lithium mine at Greenbushes. It is very important that we engage
with our trading partners like Korea. We have had a future battery and critical
minerals industries strategy in Western Australia since 2019 that has seen a multibillion-dollar
investment in our downstream processing industry.
During my recent trip that included a
visit to Korea, a visit that was opposed by the Liberal Party, I was able to
witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Minerals
Research Institute of Western Australia and the Korean Institute of Geoscience
and Mineral Resources, the equivalent body for the Korean government. This will
enhance technological exchange between Western Australia and Korea while we
work on improving our ability to find minerals, recover them from the earth,
process them at the mine site and work on those extracted minerals to make the
chemicals that are needed for our battery industry and to process rare earths
as well. It will also allow for research on extracting critical minerals from tailings—that is, the
material that currently goes to waste. Interestingly, that is demonstrated by Iluka Resources' rare-earth plant at Eneabba, north of Perth, which
is going to take mine tailings and reprocess it to create rare earths. It will
be an integrated rare-earth facility.
Western Australia has already
achieved a great deal. One of the advantages of my travel was that I was able
to let our international partners know of the great success that we have
already had in midstream processing, not just our strong position in mining,
and now our globally significant investments into the processing of those
minerals into chemical products for industry around the world. This MOU with
the Korean Institute will allow us to
continue to develop the technologies that we need to create the high-paid ,
high-skilled jobs in Western Australia that the Labor government wants to see
here.
I understand that the opposition, the
Liberal Party in particular, does not want to engage with our trading partners.
It criticises me, the Minister for Mines and Petroleum, for doing my job and —
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members!
Mr W.J. JOHNSTON : —
visiting our trading partners and the key investors making Western Australian
industry so strong, but I do not shy away from hard work and I am prepared to
do that again. This MOU will assist us in transferring the technologies that we
need to grow our industry in Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : The Leader of
the Opposition with the last question.
to answer this question from the outstanding member for Albany.
(1)–(2) I
just remind people that the south west of Western Australia is actually a major
mining province in Western Australia with many jobs and opportunities flowing
from that. It includes, of course, downstream processing like the Albemarle
processing facility in Kemerton that takes feedstock from the world's
number one lithium mine at Greenbushes. It is very important that we engage
with our trading partners like Korea. We have had a future battery and critical
minerals industries strategy in Western Australia since 2019 that has seen a multibillion-dollar
investment in our downstream processing industry.
During my recent trip that included a
visit to Korea, a visit that was opposed by the Liberal Party, I was able to
witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Minerals
Research Institute of Western Australia and the Korean Institute of Geoscience
and Mineral Resources, the equivalent body for the Korean government. This will
enhance technological exchange between Western Australia and Korea while we
work on improving our ability to find minerals, recover them from the earth,
process them at the mine site and work on those extracted minerals to make the
chemicals that are needed for our battery industry and to process rare earths
as well. It will also allow for research on extracting critical minerals from tailings—that is, the
material that currently goes to waste. Interestingly, that is demonstrated by Iluka Resources' rare-earth plant at Eneabba, north of Perth, which
is going to take mine tailings and reprocess it to create rare earths. It will
be an integrated rare-earth facility.
Western Australia has already
achieved a great deal. One of the advantages of my travel was that I was able
to let our international partners know of the great success that we have
already had in midstream processing, not just our strong position in mining,
and now our globally significant investments into the processing of those
minerals into chemical products for industry around the world. This MOU with
the Korean Institute will allow us to
continue to develop the technologies that we need to create the high-paid ,
high-skilled jobs in Western Australia that the Labor government wants to see
here.
I understand that the opposition, the
Liberal Party in particular, does not want to engage with our trading partners.
It criticises me, the Minister for Mines and Petroleum, for doing my job and —
The SPEAKER : Order, please,
members!
Mr W.J. JOHNSTON : —
visiting our trading partners and the key investors making Western Australian
industry so strong, but I do not shy away from hard work and I am prepared to
do that again. This MOU will assist us in transferring the technologies that we
need to grow our industry in Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : The Leader of
the Opposition with the last question.
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