Just a week after the new Australian Critical Minerals Strategy was announced, Queensland launched its own to "unlock the next resources boom". We take a look at how it differs from its federal counterpart, what initiatives are on offer, and what it could mean for the Queensland critical minerals sector. Read more

By Jay Leary and Jaya Prasad Summary Global investment in the clean energy transition has placed increased demand pressures on critical minerals supply chain Australia is already a key player in the critical minerals market but there is further opportunity to expand Australia’s offering to the global market Key risks include geological scarcity, sovereign and … Read more

By Jay Leary The Chilean government have announced the introduction of a tax reform bill that will introduce a new royalty system payable by copper miners. This bill contains a variable royalty rate, dependent on the quantity of copper sold. Rates could increase to as high as 32% depending on the price of copper. Given … Read more

By Jay Leary To the great surprise of all within the industry, the Queensland government has announced significant changes to the royalty regime for coal. The changes end what has otherwise been a stable period of royalty policy nationally. The royalty changes proposed are well out of step with other jurisdictions and display a deep … Read more

Rio Tinto has only bad options as it tries to salvage its $2.4 billion Serbian lithium project after the country’s leaders bowed to environmentalists and cancelled it last week. The Anglo-Australian miner could sue the government, a step likely to fail and further antagonise Belgrade, or bet that pro-mining politicians emerge victorious in April parliamentary … Read more

On 24 June 2020 the NSW Government released its ‘Strategic Statement on Coal Exploration and Mining in NSW’ (the Statement), which outlines the Government’s policy position on future coal mining and exploration in New South Wales and aims to provide increased certainty to industry and community stakeholders. The new policy position recognises the ‘finite lifespan’ … Read more

Olivier Binyingo, a director in the Johannesburg office of Herbert Smith Freehills South Africa LLP who has built particular experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will participate in a DRC Mining Week webinar on Thursday 18 June, 11:00 GMT which will address questions such as: Will the permanency of these declines be tied to … Read more

Proponents seeking consent for new projects, or modifications of existing projects, with ‘material’ greenhouse gas emissions across all industries in NSW should carefully assess climate change impacts, particularly if the proposal is not ‘carbon neutral’. What has happened? On 8 February 2019, the NSW Land and Environment Court (Court) refused development consent for a new … Read more