Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has urged US Vice-President JD Vance to back the state’s critical minerals industry, arguing that projects are ready to help build secure supply chains outside China.
Crisafulli held a one-to-one meeting with Vance in Washington during a trade mission involving five Queensland companies. The delegation has also met US government departments and finance agencies to seek investment and commodity purchase agreements.
“The United States is hungry for critical minerals, and Queensland is open for business. We’ve got momentum and we’ve got projects ready to go. This is our time,” Crisafulli said.
He said Queensland could provide a safe and reliable source of minerals needed for defence, energy and advanced manufacturing, with the state seeking to secure a share of funding made available under a new Australia-US agreement.
Under the deal agreed by US President Donald Trump and the Albanese government, both countries are due to contribute at least US$1 billion over six months towards a pipeline of critical minerals investment in Australia and the US.
Queensland seeks a larger share of US minerals funding
Queensland has yet to secure a new funding announcement under the partnership, while projects in other states have already received support.
The Pentagon is investing US$400 million in a mining project in central-western New South Wales producing scandium, while Western Australia’s Alcoa-Sojitz gallium recovery project has received $200 million in concessional finance. A further $100 million has been announced for the Arafura Nolans project in the Northern Territory.
Queensland’s government has recently strengthened its own investment programme, expanding the Queensland Critical Minerals Fund to $250 million. In August, $20 million was committed to Aeon Metals’ Walford Creek project, around 350 kilometres north-west of Mount Isa, supporting feasibility studies and drilling.
The government says the project could create up to 200 construction jobs and 60 ongoing positions, while helping develop deposits containing copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, silver and nickel.
New legislation passed by the Queensland parliament last month is intended to streamline the development of strategically important projects and attract international capital. The reforms retain environmental and planning approvals, as well as consultation and compensation protections for landholders.
Crisafulli’s government has also highlighted an Australia-first graphite-to-anode demonstration facility in Townsville as evidence that Queensland can process minerals domestically rather than simply extracting and exporting them.
The facility, operated by Graphinex, has received a US Export-Import Bank letter of interest for $1.3 billion. Queensland has separately proposed joint federal funding for four projects, including upgrades to the Mount Isa rail line and expanded mineral-processing capacity in Townsville and Mackay.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie told the Queensland parliament that the state wanted the new projects and jobs to be based locally rather than in Western Australia or the Northern Territory.
“We want the critical minerals to come out of Queensland,” he said. “We want to generate Queensland jobs.”
The state’s trade mission comes as the US and its allies seek to reduce reliance on China, which dominates large parts of the global critical minerals supply chain. Crisafulli said Queensland was ready to move quickly if the state could secure backing from Washington.
