{"id":847585,"date":"2026-08-08T04:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/847585\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:54:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:54:16","slug":"critical-minerals-finlandss-pitch-to-queensland-for-multibillion-dollar-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/847585\/","title":{"rendered":"Critical minerals: Finland\u2019s\u2019s pitch to Queensland for multibillion-dollar industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"James<\/p>\n

August 8, 2026 \u2014 9:00am<\/p>\n

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The ambassador of Finland was busily working the corridors of power in Queensland this week, eager to offer the Nordic nation\u2019s services to help kick-start a multibillion-dollar minerals production industry.<\/p>\n

Queensland is flush with mineral deposits in the state\u2019s north and northwest but industry experts have long warned of the lack of economic benefits to a \u201cdig and ship\u201d approach, with the real value coming from onshore processing and refining.<\/p>\n

\"QueenslandQueensland has rich deposits of critical minerals, including copper.<\/p>\n

This is where Finland comes in, Ambassador Arto Haapea told this masthead in an interview, a nation highly regarded for developing mining and production technology.<\/p>\n

The Crisafulli government last week unveiled its 2026-30 critical minerals strategy which flags investment in processing through local refining and manufacturing. This is broadly in-line with the federal government\u2019s Future Made in Australia industrial policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would argue a lot of the Finnish technology is something that enables you to do that,\u201d Haapea said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need the technology partners that will help you get to that next level of processing, and there is a number of areas in the wide spectrum of minerals where Finnish counterparts would be more than happy to work with Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Ambassador spruiked Finland\u2019s technological prowess in the mining industry. AAPIMAGE<\/p>\n

Finland, which joined NATO in 2023<\/a> in response to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, has become increasingly vocal on geopolitical tensions.<\/p>\n

Haapea stressed this global threat, stemming from Russia in Europe and China in the Asia Pacific, placed greater significance on collaboration on sensitive industries such as critical minerals and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

This fear has triggered the creation of US-led global coalitions such as the Pax Silica Initiative, which both Finland and Australia are signatories.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe really need to work together when it comes to critical minerals because there\u2019s a reason why they are being called critical raw materials,\u201d Haapea said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just something that we are working towards, and we are always on the same side of the fence with Australians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Vernon, CSIRO chief research scientist and critical minerals lead, said Queensland\u2019s plan to accelerate approvals and project developments will be well-received by the industry.<\/p>\n

But he said the promise to support downstream processing to refine and manufacture provided significant economic value.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019ve been missing in the critical mineral space,\u201d Vernon told this masthead.<\/p>\n

\"ArtoArto Haapea with Natural Resources and Mines Minister Dale Last.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are not dig and ship opportunities \u2013 you really have to do some processing and refining to capture the economic value.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s totally unlike iron ore, where you can get maybe a quarter of a value just from digging it up with a shovel. Critical minerals are worth pennies in the dollar as ores and concentrates, and to break into the market \u2013 particularly the ex-China market \u2013 you need to come to the party with something that\u2019s a purified oxide or a metal or something that a manufacturing nation can use.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Finnish diplomat\u2019s visit to Parliament and One William Street<\/a> came just a week after meetings with US Consul-General Jeremy Cornforth, who will inspect critical mineral projects later this month.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Minister<\/a><\/p>\n

The visiting international contemporaries come ahead of Premier David Crisafulli\u2019s trade mission to the US later this month.<\/p>\n

Natural Resources and Mines Dale Last told said the critical minerals plan to 2030 focused on cashing in on global demand and attracting international investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cQueensland is entering a defining decade with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to become a global supplier of critical minerals and the Crisafulli government is working with trusted trading partners to unlock the possibilities that lay beneath our feet,\u201d he told this masthead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith accelerating global demand for critical minerals, Queensland is well-placed to capitalise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"JamesJames Hall<\/a> is the News Director at the Brisbane Times. He is the former Queensland correspondent at The Australian Financial Review and has reported for a range of mastheads across the country, specialising on political and finance reporting.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 8, 2026 \u2014 9:00am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":847586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":["post-847585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847585","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=847585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}