U.S. and Australia sign critical minerals agreement with $8.5 billion project pipeline

President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday signed an agreement on critical minerals that includes plans for projects worth a total of up to $8.5 billion.

“There will be $1 billion contributed from Australia and the United States over the next six months with projects that are immediately available,” Albanese told reporters at the White House during a meeting with Trump.

Albanese said there will be three groups of joint projects between the two countries, which will include companies such as Alcoa. The U.S. will invest in rare earths processing in Australia, the prime minister said. One project is a joint venture between Australia, the U.S. and Japan, he said.

“What we’re trying to do here is to take the opportunities which are there,” Albanese told reporters.

China dominates the global rare earths supply chain, particularly refining and processing. The U.S. is dependent on Beijing for rare earths imports. Australia, a close U.S. ally, is one of the few countries in the world other than China that processes rare earths.

“In about a year from now, we’ll have so much critical mineral and rare earths that you won’t know what to do with them,” Trump told reporters. The U.S. is also working with other nations to build a supply chain that isn’t dependent on China, the president said.