Australia’s critical minerals industry doesn’t need subsidies: BHP

BRISBANE, June 27 (Reuters) – Australia’s critical minerals strategy does not need the sugar hit of more subsidies as good projects will find investment, but the country needs to speed up mine development timelines and rework new labor legislation the BHP CEO said on Tuesday.

The comments from BHP CEO Mike Henry came a week after Australia, one of the world’s largest suppliers of raw minerals, outlined a strategy on how it will work with international investors and partners to build a critical mineral processing industry.

The strategy, which aims to see Australia as a major producer by 2030 of critical minerals that are key to the global energy transition, drew criticism from some who had hoped for higher subsidies, shorter regulatory approval deadlines and additions to its list of critical minerals. .

Instead, Henry said, the national and state governments should focus on making their jurisdictions more attractive to investment.

“There is enough investment appetite for good projects under the right conditions,” Henry told a mining conference in Brisbane.

“What Australia’s resource industry needs is better productivity and fiscal adjustments,” he said.

That includes faster furloughs, a productive and flexible workforce, and inquiries about proposed regulation, such as changes to royalty regimes.

“Under those conditions, capital will flow.”

As an example of where capital will not flow, Henry said BHP would not invest further in Queensland, where the state government had not consulted before. increase in coal royalties last year to the highest of any jurisdiction in the world.

Queensland on Tuesday announced a new critical mineral development strategy to attract investment to the state.

BHP estimates that the world will need an additional $100 billion per year in capital investment in the resource sector to get on track to meet the Paris-aligned 1.5C scenario, it said.

Translated into demand for metals, Henry said that means twice as much copper, four times as much nickel, twice as much steel and twice as much potash, BHP’s main products.

Reporting by Melanie Burton; Edited by Sonali Paul

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