Germany seeks to deepen partnership with Australia on raw materials
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said during a visit to Australia on Thursday that Berlin was very interested in deepening its partnership with Canberra on critical raw materials.
“Your country is an important partner for us in diversifying our supply chains,” Wadephul said after a meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Canberra.
“Many critical raw materials such as lithium are mined here and we are very interested in further expanding our cooperation in the raw materials sector, especially in the area of strategically important minerals.”
The world’s largest hard rock lithium mine is located south of Perth in the town of Greenbushes. Lithium is primarily used in lithium-ion batteries, such as those found in smartphones, laptops and electric vehicles.
The Greenbushes mine covers more than 2,000 hectares and provides approximately 20% of global production. Australia also has huge deposits of rare earths such as neodymium and terbium, which are used for example for permanent magnets in electric motors.
Wadephul acknowledged that partnership in the exploitation of mineral deposits comes at a price.
“We also have to be prepared to spend money, because the development of these raw materials is sometimes expensive,” he said, emphasizing that “Germany in particular is heavily dependent on these raw materials.”
