A new report into the Western Australia future battery industry has found that battery minerals contributed $6-billion in export revenue in 2018/19. Rare earths, specifically, grew significantly and were valued at over A$355-million.
As at December 2019, almost A$3-billion in funding had been committed in regional investment in battery industry projects across the State with a further A$22-billion in proposed regional projects.
Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston said the industry snapshot revealed the growth in the state’s battery industry since the state government began developing its Future Battery Industry Strategy in 2018, and then launched it in January 2019.
“The Implementation Progress Report demonstrates that the government’s Future Battery Industry Strategy is working.
“The strategy provides consistent and coordinated actions to ensure the Western Australian government is leading the nation’s growth in the uptake of opportunities across the whole global battery value chain, including mining, downstream processing and manufacturing,” he said.
Western Australia’s future battery industry recorded a 21% increase in employment in 2018/19, bringing the total number of operational jobs to 14 150, while an additional 2 349 new regional jobs were also created.
Western Australia is the global leader in lithium production and is also home to the fourth largest vanadium and manganese resources, the second largest reserves of cobalt and the largest nickel resources. It also produces non-battery minerals used in the manufacture of electric vehicles and energy storage systems, including rare earth elements that are necessary for the production of electric motors.
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