Palaszczuk to unveil $245m critical minerals strategy at World Mining Congress in Brisbane

Annastacia Palaszczuk will today unveil the state’s first $245m critical mineral strategy which will include free rent for miners exploring Queensland.

Miners trying to find Queensland’s next untapped critical mineral-rich vein can do it rent-free for the next five years under a multimillion-dollar strategy unveiled by the state government.

And millions more will be pumped into research and development, including ways to siphon out more minerals from mining waste.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was set to unveil the state’s new $245m critical minerals strategy at the World Mining Congress in Brisbane on Tuesday, in a bid to position Queensland as the “global leader” of the sector.

The Queensland event is the first time the conference of mining giants has been held in Australia.

Resources Minister Scott Stewart. Picture: Evan Morgan

Resource ministers across federal, state and territory governments also used the conference to hold a roundtable on the sidelines, “reaffirming” on Monday “a commitment to attract foreign investment for resources projects”.

Under the state’s strategy, the Queensland government will forgo $55m in revenue across the next five years make the rent attached to new and existing exploration permits free.

This would save a project such as the Richmond-Julia Creek Vanadium Project about $75,000 a year.

The project 45km northwest of Richmond is expected to create about 100 construction and 200 operational jobs.

Vanadium batteries are the next big push in renewable energy because vanadium lasts longer, loses less capacity over time and is easier to recycle than lithium.

Seismic trucks conduct a geophysical survey in Queensland’s North West Minerals Province.

The government will also pump $8m into research and develop a “research institute-government minerals alliance” to “explore opportunities to realise greater efficiencies in the critical minerals value chain”.

There is an estimated $500bn in resources stored in the Mount Isa-centred North West Minerals Province.

“The Queensland Critical Mineral Strategy is about growing this industry by not just mining the raw materials, but also being able to process it and manufacturing renewables right here in Queensland,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“I want Queensland to be a global leader, supplier and manufacturer of critical minerals and this strategy will help us achieve that.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk with Resources Minister Scott Stewart make announcements on CopperString 2.0 project in March. Picture: Shae Beplate

The government in March announced it would take over the CopperString 2.0 project – a 1100km high-voltage power line to connect the resource-rich North West Minerals Province to the national grid via Hughenden and Townsville.

Resources Minister Scott Stewart said Queensland had “vast reserves” of critical minerals including copper, zinc, vanadium and cobalt – in high demand amid global appetite for batteries and the transition to renewable energy.

He said the strategy was about “acting now” to position the state as a “global leader in this new industrial revolution”.

“If we do not manufacture our future, someone else will, leaving Queensland to remain a low-end supplier of minerals and nothing more,” Mr Stewart said.

Originally published as Palaszczuk to unveil $245m critical minerals strategy at World Mining Congress in Brisbane