This is Allens

Charles is a partner specialising in large-scale public and private M&A, and our head of critical minerals.

Advanced economies around the world are clamouring to secure access to critical minerals and rare earths that are vital for the defence industry, the development of advanced technologies and the global energy transition. 

Critical minerals are driving a wave of investment activity from both local and international sources, and we see significant opportunity in the near term. This activity isn’t limited to mining itself – as new projects come online, there’s huge potential for growth in mining-adjacent industries like mining services, infrastructure, remote power, construction, logistics and onshore processing.

The world's been caught off guard by its reliance on Chinese supply chains for critical minerals. More than ever there’s an urgent need to invest in more resilient supply chains to enable our economy – and economies in the US, Western Europe and Asia – to continue making the products we require.

We're seeing major government intervention in a way we haven’t for a long time. We think this will have profound implications for how mining projects get off the ground, the speed at which they reach production and the ease of securing funding. Regulation of ownership of sensitive projects is also on the rise. The US Government, in particular, has been clear in its intention to dramatically increase the control it has over rare earths and critical minerals, and its willingness to deploy substantial capital to do so.

Looking ahead, rare earths will likely continue to get the most focus over the next 12 months. There’s a great land grab for rare earths opportunities driven by explorers and producers looking to diversify, the governments seeking to shore up supply chains, and sovereign capital looking for opportunities to invest for the long term. Everyday investors are also cashing in on opportunities in battery metals and rare earths through ETFs.

At Allens, we work across the full lifecycle of critical minerals projects, from inception through to capital raising, IPOs, project development and into production and then diversification. It's immensely rewarding to work with a producer through that whole journey. We offer our clients a unique combination of deep expertise in critical minerals, and a market-leading M&A and investment platform that helps global strategic investors, private capital and sovereign wealth funds make meaningful investments in the Australian mining sector.

You can’t ignore the significant optimism in the critical minerals sector right now and the knock-on effects that has on the rest of the economy. The critical minerals opportunity for Australia is monumental, and not just for the investors and miners who are directly involved. We think the best years for Australian mining are yet to come!