New Zealand miners hail critical minerals list; supply chain strategy needed

New Zealand miners welcomed the government's release of a draft list of 35 critical minerals on Sept. 15.

The draft list identifying 35 minerals follows an Aug. 28 "mineral stock take" on New Zealand's endowment by government agency GNS Science. The coalition government formed in November 2023 introduced a Fast-Track Approvals Bill into parliament in March to streamline permitting for mines, before a draft minerals strategy released in May with a plan to double minerals exports to NZ$2 billion by 2035.

The US, EU, Canada, and others have established government critical minerals lists in recent years to give production of those commodities a boost in the market or in dealing with regulatory red tape.

"The draft list covers a range of minerals with many different applications within our economy and considers minerals that are needed internationally where New Zealand may be able to contribute to supply," Resources Minister Shane Jones said in a Sept. 15 statement. "It also considers risks to domestic and international supply chains, and where there is a need to build more supply resilience."

Compiled by Wood Mackenzie for consultation that closes Oct. 10, the list comprises copper, nickel, cobalt, gallium, antimony, graphite, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, zinc, manganese, magnesium, rare earth elements, aluminum, arsenic, beryllium, bismuth, boron, cesium, chromium, fluorspar, germanium, indium, molybdenum, niobium, phosphate, platinum group metals, potassium (potash), rubidium, selenium, silicon, strontium, tellurium and zirconium, along with aggregate and sand.

Josie Vidal, CEO of Straterra. Source: Straterra Inc.

"This is New Zealand entering the game and offering a prospect" for battery supply chain investment, Josie Vidal, CEO of industry association Straterra Inc., told S&P Global Commodity Insights on Sept. 16.

Vidal said the draft list and minerals strategy, combined with the mineral stock take, "puts New Zealand where other mining countries have been for a while, with a prospect saying, 'We're here. We've got mining available. It does need investment. We have skill, we have workers, we are responsible miners'."

Industry now needs a battery supply chain strategy to ensure miners can operate with reliable and affordable power, as local manufacturers have curbed activity in 2024 amid high energy prices, Vidal said. This is despite the fact that around 82% of New Zealand's electricity is sourced from renewable energy, according to industry group Energy Resources Aotearoa.

"Given the need for these minerals and what they're for in energy use and high tech, we should be looking at what can we mine, process and manufacture [in the battery supply chain], just to give us resilience," Vidal said.

While welcoming the draft list, Alan Eggers, executive chairman of Manuka Resources Ltd. subsidiary Trans-Tasman Resources Ltd., said New Zealand still has some "tough choices" to make to support the mining sector, which would provide the metals needed for the country's move away from fossil fuels.

"We can continue to import our metals, mineral and technology needs from countries with lower environmental outcomes, or we can make a positive contribution to a low carbon economy and gain economic benefits from developing our own mineral resources," Eggers said in a Sept. 15 statement.