Australia and US sign framework for critical minerals, rare earths

US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday signed a bilateral framework for the mining and processing of critical minerals and rare earths at the White House.

Washington and Canberra committed to a major "immediate" investment in critical minerals projects over the next six months.

A US fact sheet spoke of a combined $3 billion in the next six months, while an Australian statement spoke of "at least USD$1 billion in investments towards an USD$8.5 billion pipeline of priority critical minerals projects in Australia and the United States over the next six months."

Both the US and Australian governments are set to invest in the construction of a gallium refinery in Western Australia and a project in the Northern Territory, with rights to take a stake in the ownership of those facilities.

According to Canberra, the project in Western Australia would provide up to 10% of total global supply of gallium, a metal crucial for defence and semiconductor manufacturing. Japan is also involved in the project and has provided 50% of costs to date, the Australian government specified.

The project in the Northern Territory, meanwhile, once operational was set to "produce 5 per cent of global rare earths," the Australian government said.

Canberra agreed to buy $1.2 billion in Anduril unmanned underwater vehicles and take delivery of the first tranche of Apache helicopters in a separate $2.6 billion deal.

A White House fact sheet described the framework as a plan for "achieving critical mineral and energy dominance."

"What this is about isn't just digging things up," Albanese said at the White House, "it's also about processing including the joint ventures between Australia and the United States."

Trump meanwhile said that "about a year from now, we'll have so much critical mineral and rare earths that you won't know what to do with them. They'll be worth about $2."