ATSE’s submission provides analysis on opportunities to advance Australia’s critical minerals industry so that it delivers greater economic value through developing midstream and downstream processing while benefiting regional communities and Traditional Owners through a robust social licence framework. This will require enabling renewable infrastructure to support downstream processing, enhance critical minerals resource recovery through innovation in e-waste recycling, socially responsible mining development that consults with Traditional Owners and regional communities in the pre-development stage and follows robust social licence frameworks, and expanding Australia’s engineering skilled workforce through incentivising university enrolment. The submission draws on ATSE reports including Decarbonising Diesel Industries to highlight the need for renewable energy infrastructure to support critical minerals projects and regional communities, Towards a Waste-Free Future to highlight opportunities in e-waste recycling, and Small Modular Reactors to investigate opportunity in uranium mining.

Recommendations from ATSE’s submission

Recommendation 1: Increase investment in projects that build renewable energy infrastructure in mineral-rich regions, to support a low-carbon approach to producing more critical minerals.

Recommendation 2: Prioritise innovation and the commercialisation of research to advance critical mineral recovery through urban mining.

Recommendation 3: Use evidence-based international best practice to obtain social licence of critical minerals projects by following the ICMM framework and conducting early engagement in the pre-development stage.

Recommendation 4: Prioritise the development of mining operations that are owned by, or owned in genuine partnership with, Traditional Owners through grants and loan guarantees.

Recommendation 5: Accelerate new critical minerals projects through streamlined approvals processes, while engaging with communities to develop social licence.

Recommendation 6: Investigate the possibility of further uranium exploration and mining while building support from regional communities and Traditional Owners.

Recommendation 7: Address the workforce gap through long-term support for proven programs that actively expand the engineering workforce, such as Elevate, which supports more women and non-binary people to study engineering degrees.

Recommendation 8: Extend paid practical placements to engineering degrees to incentivise enrolments and address the engineering workforce gap.