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The University of Western Australia and University The Cooperative Research Centre on Transformations
of Queensland have secured almost $30 million in Mining Economies will be recognised as CRC-TiME,
from the Federal Government to support regional with 75 partners including BHP Ltd, Rio Tinto Ltd,
Australian communities facing local mine closures. Deswik, Decipher, the Western Australia, Queensland
and Northern Territory governments, as well as
The funding forms part of a total 10-year investment of researchers from eight universities and the CSIRO.
$135.4 million to support the successful transition of
mining communities to create sustainable community The work done by CRC-TiME is seen as a critical
and development opportunities. part of the mining sector’s responsibilities, given
Australia’s mining boom had contributed greatly to
With several large mines around Australia reaching wealth and living standards in the past decade, but
their end and closing within the next 10 years, as resources are depleted there are an increasing
the project will undertake social, environmental, number of projects approaching closure.
economic and technical research, work directly with
industry and communities and
enable Australia to transition to
a prosperous and sustainable
post-mining future.

Therefore, Australia’s high-quality bat-
tery minerals resource and production
bases gives it a competitive advantage
in an industry potentially worth trillions of
dollars.
Ensuring the opportunity is not lost will
be outfits like the FBICRC Core and its
key participants such as IGO Ltd, BASF,
Minerals Research Institute of WA, Mur-
doch University, University of Western
Australia, Blackstone Minerals Ltd and
Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd, which share
the same “level of common ambition”.
“There are some unique characteris-
tics in an effort to move downstream in
the battery value chain,” FBICRC chief
executive Stedman Ellis told Paydirt.
“Once you move beyond nickel sul- 99.95% nickel sulphate
phate or lithium hydroxide, the next point
is really producing the chemical mixture dedicated to capital-intensive projects opportunity for us.”
that battery cell makers are looking for. in Australia indicated the drive to deliver There are many elements that need
The precursor chemicals are a mixture of globally significant products in-country to come together for Australia to realise
different chemistries that involve nickel, and the level of comfort such companies where its maximum opportunity is in the
lithium, cobalt and graphite. So, to actu- have with the regulatory frameworks. battery value chain, with the CRC tasked
ally make that step down the value chain Furthermore, the deep and well-estab- with connecting the right dots.
to precursor chemical production you ac- lished trade relationships regionally and Ellis said there were “scene-setting
tually need collaboration to occur across further abroad was also a plus for Aus- projects” carried out by the CRC plus
the industry. tralia. other outfits were being tapped into to
“As a consequence, the existing BHP “We’re aligned with what the end cus- help contextualise everyone’s role.
Nickel sulphate pilot plant is going to be tomers for batteries – car makers – are For instance, a report produced by
repurposed as a cathode precursor pilot asking for with confirmation of responsi- the Perth-US-Asia Study Centre on the
plant for our CRC, which has attracted ble production processes. I think Austral- geopolitics of value chains of the battery
support from a wide number of partici- ia has begun to leverage that competitive industry highlighted the opportunities for
pants from the CRC, ranging from the advantage to grow industries in Australia Australia in terms of partnering with other
very large companies to medium size that can take advantage of the shift that players in the region and elsewhere.
ones to small ones which are involved in is occurring domestically and internation- “That sets the context for international
a diverse range of commodities,” he said. ally,” Ellis said. alliances and partnerships where Aus-
BHP’s nickel sulphate plant and Tian- “Australia may not go head-to-head in tralia can play effectively with other part-
qi/Albermale’s investment in a lithium the mass production of batteries for the ners and where we are stronger in other
hydroxide facility in Western Australia motor vehicle industry, but there are a parts of the value chain,” Ellis said.
helps cast attention on the emerging bat- number of further steps down the value “We have CSIRO doing a piece of work
tery chemicals processing opportunity chain that Australia can take that really called the State of Play, through which
on Australia’s doorstep. build on those competitive advantages, we can then map the capability and as-
Ellis said having blue-chip companies which could create significant economic sets of Australia’s battery industry across

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