{"id":719145,"date":"2026-06-06T14:33:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/719145\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T14:33:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:33:13","slug":"past-failures-haunt-quads-us20-billion-critical-minerals-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/719145\/","title":{"rendered":"Past failures haunt Quad\u2019s US$20 billion critical minerals push"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/quadrilateral-security-dialogue-quad?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Quad<\/a>\u2019s newly announced US$20 billion critical minerals framework aims to loosen China\u2019s near-monopoly on the materials that power modern defence, technology and clean energy industries.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">But analysts say its success will depend on the ability of Australia, the United States, India and Japan \u2013 the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue\u2019s four members \u2013 to move beyond policy declarations and deliver measurable outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>The initiative, announced after a meeting of Quad foreign ministers <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/us\/article\/3354953\/quad-foreign-ministers-fight-relevance-new-delhi-leaders-summit-remains-elusive?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">on May 27<\/a>, has widely been interpreted as a response to China\u2019s dominance in global critical mineral supply chains.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">According to the International Energy Agency, China is the world\u2019s leading refiner for 19 of 20 strategically important energy minerals, controlling an average of 70 to 90 per cent of global processing capacity for lithium, cobalt, graphite and manganese, among others.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Workers use heavy machinery to dig for rare earths at a mine in northern China\u2019s Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Photo: AP\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4ecf76f1-51c3-49c5-a646-abe0b3c55b26_19e87baa.jpg\" title=\"Workers use heavy machinery to dig for rare earths at a mine in northern China\u2019s Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Photo: AP\"\/>Workers use heavy machinery to dig for rare earths at a mine in northern China\u2019s Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Photo: APThese materials are essential for electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, semiconductors and aerospace technologies. Beijing has already shown its willingness to restrict supplies, banning select shipments of so-called dual-use goods to Japan <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/economy\/global-economy\/article\/3338907\/china-bans-exports-military-related-goods-japan-dispute-intensifies?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">earlier this year<\/a> following a diplomatic dispute.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cChina\u2019s dominant position was built over decades through scale, processing capacity and industrial policy,\u201d said William Heidlage, senior director of technology at strategic advisory firm BowerGroupAsia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Quad\u2019s newly announced US$20 billion critical minerals framework aims to loosen China\u2019s near-monopoly on the materials that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,512,8268,164,1209,3691,941,53607,348683,348682,1055,67288,64232,348680,348681],"class_list":["post-719145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-china","tag-critical-minerals","tag-economy","tag-india","tag-international-energy-agency","tag-japan","tag-quad","tag-quadrilateral-security-dialogue","tag-s-rajaratnam-school-of-international-studies","tag-united-states","tag-university-of-queensland","tag-us-australia","tag-us-japan-south-korea-trilateral-partnership","tag-william-heidlage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}