US, UK, EU, Australia and more to meet to discuss critical minerals alliance3 Feb 2026 06:11
Ministers from the US, EU, UK, Japan, Australia and New Zealand will meet in Washington this week to discuss a strategic alliance over critical minerals.
The summit is being seen as a step to repair transatlantic ties fractured by a year of conflict with Donald Trump and pave the way for other alliances to help countries de-risk from China, including one centred on steel.
Australia said on Friday it would establish a A$1.2bn (£610m) strategic reserve of minerals it believes are vulnerable to supply disruption from China, which last April restricted exports on rare earths in response to Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs.
It is the second summit on the matter within a month and involves about 20 countries including the G7 members – the UK, US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada – along with India and South Korea and Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and possibly Argentina.
One area of discussion will be calls for the US to guarantee a minimum price for critical minerals and rare earths. A report this week that Washington has decided against the idea sent shares downwards in Australia, which has been positioning itself as a critical minerals alternative to China with a decision to stockpile elements such as antimony and gallium.
It follows in the footsteps of Japan, which has actively built reserves for years to build resilience against China’s willingness to switch off supplies to advance its foreign policy.
Canberra’s resources minister, Madeleine King, said a US decision not to offer minimum pricing “won’t stop Australia from pursuing our critical minerals reserve programme”.....
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/01/us-uk-eu-australia-critical-minerals-rare-earths-g7-minimum-price
An interesting point, again, about 'minimum pricing', which was discussed by Shaun Day in the Town Hall webinar with regards our Tungsten at O'Callaghan's....
SD: "....there's ways where they could potentially take a stake in the the tungsten or O’Callaghans deposit, but but potentially I I think the off the potential for offtakes with with high quality government you know, Department of Defense or someone else, I think that's very attractive. So, look, we
we're we're seeking to and to some extent have got you O’Callaghans on the radar for that. - And you know, we're we're excited about where those discussions and we we actually think the the approach by Western governments of creating that underwritten price, so the price count being manipulated by China, a price floor, I think is a really sensible way for the market to decide what are the high quality assets in that space..."
The subject of 'minimum price' is still on the table, and due to be discussed further in Washington this week. Even if it's not agreed at that time, IMHO, it may well be in future, and I don't think it'll have an especially negative effect on what we decide to do with O'Callaghan's, as there are many ways to skin a cat!
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