Australia is emerging as an alternative source of tech metals/rare earth elements including Lithium.
Yet it seems China is doing most of the investing in tech metals/rare earth elements in Australia, as economic amounts are discovered in Australia.
Most “tech metals” overlap with the more established term “rare earth elements”. ABC advises “There are 17 rare earth elements on the periodic table, falling into the heavy rare earths or light rare earths depending on their atomic weight." Tech metals are essential for making mobile phones, solar cells, large battery autonomous vehicles, submarine batteries? and large on-site batteries to store renewable energy (eg. solar, wind and hydro).
It is important economically and strategically that China is not the dominant supplier of tech metals “rare earth elements” to the Western world.
![]()
Yet it seems China is doing most of the investing in tech metals/rare earth elements in Australia, as economic amounts are discovered in Australia.
Most “tech metals” overlap with the more established term “rare earth elements”. ABC advises “There are 17 rare earth elements on the periodic table, falling into the heavy rare earths or light rare earths depending on their atomic weight." Tech metals are essential for making mobile phones, solar cells, large battery autonomous vehicles, submarine batteries? and large on-site batteries to store renewable energy (eg. solar, wind and hydro).
It is important economically and strategically that China is not the dominant supplier of tech metals “rare earth elements” to the Western world.
---
Lithium, vanadium and cobalt are all available in Australia and useful for “redox flow batteries”.
Might such large batteries be used in South Australia to store renewable energy?
Melissa CHAN :) at 3:30 in the Youtube seems quite happy China runs the world rare earths supply!
---
---
China, already dominating international supplies from its own Chinese mines, should not have supply and pricing control over Australia's emerging "tech metal" rare earth element mines.
Pete