Critical opportunities for Queensland’s resources sector

Critical opportunities for Queensland’s resources sector

The Hon. Scott Stewart MP, Queensland Minister for Resources

As the 2021 Yearbook went to print, the Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan draft was released for public consultation. This year, the Palaszczuk Government delivered our 30-year plan to grow and diversify Queensland’s resources industry.

We want to transform our resources industry from shipping our raw resources to the world to refining and manufacturing those resources – right here, in Queensland. Underpinning this transformation is the demand that is already building domestically and globally for critical minerals. Accelerating Queensland’s critical mineral sector is one of the state’s greatest opportunities. Why? Because the world cannot meet its climate change targets without these minerals. Critical minerals make the production of renewable energy technologies possible, from solar panels and wind turbines to grid-capacity batteries to store renewable energy. The Palaszczuk Government has a nation-leading Energy and Jobs Plan which sets out a vision for renewable energy generation, storage and transmission in the state. To build the infrastructure to support the planned transformation of our energy grid, we will need nearly 500,000 tonnes of minerals. And this is just for Queensland’s transition. The International Energy Agency estimates that demand for critical minerals will increase over the years to 2050, tripling under current global measures to reduce emissions, and increasing by up to six times if efforts to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 escalate.

With some of the world’s richest endowments of several critical minerals, including zinc, vanadium and rhenium, Queensland is well-placed to support the delivery of the global energy transition and decarbonisation.

However, the pace and scale of investment needed to meet demand will need to significantly increase. Our plan outlines a suite of actions to support critical minerals exploration and production and maximise commercial opportunity.

Discovering the mines of the future

We need to capitalise on the significant increase in demand for critical minerals. Our government has committed $22.6 million toward the Collaborative Exploration Initiative to help supercharge the search for critical minerals. This will see us continue to work closely with the sector by providing support to Queensland’s resource exploration companies so that they can grow and make the discoveries that will secure future resources for the benefit of the State.

Understanding our critical minerals potential

Providing the resources sector with the tools they need to aid the exploration, discovery, and extraction of minerals is vital. The frontier for discovery is moving into deeper and more difficult terrains, while the demand for critical minerals increases exponentially. That is why our Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan commits $5 million toward geoscience research on existing copper, cobalt, rare earth, indium and other critical mineral deposits to better understand their occurrence and distribution.

Finding new opportunities in old places

Queensland’s abandoned mines have considerable potential for recommercialisation. There are around 120 significant abandoned mines in Queensland, some with remaining in-demand resources and by-products. These mines are of increasing interest to prospective investors as they consider how to mine with reduced impacts and the benefits of the circular economy. The Palaszczuk Government has commenced a pilot program to recommercialise the area that includes Wolfram Camp Mine, Bamford Hill Mine, and surrounding exploration areas. Despite it being an old site, Wolfram Camp still has potential commercial deposits of

tungsten and molybdenum, used for alloys and items such as electrodes, heating elements, and as filaments in light bulbs and cathode ray tubes. We are working to establish abandoned mines' re-commercialisation principles to guide and inform future recommercialisation decisions.

Redirecting funds for success

Recent amendments to the Mineral Resources Act 1989 will encourage more miners to set up shop in Queensland and attract more investment in the critical minerals sector. The amendments will allow the Minister for Resources to defer the first year of rent for specific critical minerals projects, which will cut their initial start-up costs and help get mines producing faster. We’re sending the signal to explorers, investors, and industry that this government is serious when it comes to growing our critical minerals industry and the good jobs it creates.

Common user infrastructure for critical minerals

Queensland is known as a world-class exporter and is growing its infrastructure to support pit-to-product supply chains. Our regions are set up and ready to grow. While traditional common user infrastructure such as roads, rails and ports remain important, very different infrastructures and processes are needed to unlock the value of critical minerals. That’s why we’ve committed to investigating the feasibility and financial sustainability of common user infrastructure opportunities in partnership with industry. If industry and government work together to effectively to stand-up critical minerals development projects, Queensland’s resources industry will successfully grow and diversify.

What is the role for other resources?

At the same time, the Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan recognises the role of one of Queensland’s long-term strengths, coal. In particular, we remain one of the world’s major suppliers of high-quality metallurgical coal for making steel, generating more than $60 billion in export revenue during financial year 2021–22. Steel-making coal makes up approximately 85% of the value of Queensland coal exports, and it will remain a strength for a long time to come. Even as the world transitions to renewables, steel-making coal remains an essential, and valuable, international export commodity for Queensland. As well, there are new pockets of demand opening up in the Indo-Pacific region. With strong demand for renewable energy equipment such as wind turbines, we expect that Queensland will be in the metallurgical coal business for some time to come. There is also our $66 billion LNG industry, which is a critical enabler for Queensland’s economy. It provides royalties, direct jobs in the industry, and is vital to our manufacturing sector. As we all know, Australia is currently facing high energy prices across the east coast gas market. Despite international challenges and uncertainty, ensuring adequate supplies of gas for the domestic market has always been a key priority for this government. Queensland is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to domestic gas policy and supply in this country and we are continuing to work on finding new sources. That includes investigating the potential for gas in the Bowen Basin through the $10 million Bowen Basin gas pipeline study. We are finalising the market testing phase of the study to gain a detailed understanding of the commerciality of a pipeline from the market’s perspective.

From plan to reality

The Queensland Resource Industry Development Plan was shaped by communities, resources companies, workers, local councils and businesses. Together we will bring home the actions and meet the commitments made in that plan to secure the long-term future for Queensland’s resources industry. 