News

The Australian Government has opened a $50 million grant funding scheme to accelerate development of the country’s critical minerals sector and support downstream processing. The Critical Minerals Development Program will provide grants from $1 million to $30 million. Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King said it would help Australia become a trusted and stable global supplier of critical minerals and rare earths, which are crucial for low-emissions technologies such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels, as well as aerospace and defence applications. “The road to net zero runs through Australia’s resources sector,” Minister King said.

Dutch technology firm Bynder has opened its first Australian office in Melbourne, Victoria. The move will enable the company to scale its business in the APAC region, where there is growing demand for digital asset management solutions. Bynder CEO Bob Hickey says the company has grown significantly in APAC and the new office will allow Bynder to better serve clients in Australia and across the region.

Leading French healthcare company Sanofi is investing in a world-first Australian research centre to help drive groundbreaking mRNA technology and vaccine development. Located in the north-eastern state of Queensland, the A$280 million Translational Science Hub will see Australia’s top scientists working with their global peers in France and the United States to “accelerate a new era of vaccine innovation”, says Global Head of Vaccine Research and Development at Sanofi Dr Jean-Francois Toussaint. Sanofi highlighted Queensland Government support, along with world-class local research expertise – including partners the University of Queensland and Griffith University – as deciding factors in its investment.

Australian exploration company Godolphin Resources has discovered significant rare earths mineralisation at its Narraburra project that could lead to new mining and extraction possibilities. The latest diamond drilling results from the site’s weathered and fresh rock zones indicate a much larger rare earths system and “highlight the considerable development potential at Narraburra”, says Godolphin’s Managing Director Jeneta Owens. Located in central west New South Wales, Narraburra is one of Australia’s largest zirconium and rare earth element-rich resources and also contains significant amounts of lithium. Rare earths – commonly used in the low-carbon energy sector – are forecast to become a A$22 billion global market by 2030, doubling in size this decade.

An innovative Australian renewable energy startup is scaling up its cost-effective gravity-based energy storage technology after forming a partnership with a major international engineering services company. Green Gravity will work with global giant GHD to commercialise the application of its system, which revolves around the principles of gravity and kinetic energy – in this case, lowering ultra-heavy weights down old mine shafts – to store and dispatch renewable energy. “Green Gravity’s technology represents a breakthrough in the search for economic long-duration storage of renewable energy,” says the company’s CEO Mark Swinnerton. “By re-using mining assets, costs can be kept low. By using gravity as the fuel, we dispense with consuming the critical water, land and chemicals that other storage technologies rely on.

Spanish renewable energy giant Acciona Energia has announced a A$2 billion expansion of one of the largest wind farms in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. The development will double the capacity of Queensland’s MacIntyre Wind Precinct to 2,000MW, providing enough power for 1.4 million homes and boosting the state’s commitment to becoming a renewable energy superpower. The new project also doubles the investment by Acciona Energia in the MacIntyre region, being developed in partnership with government-owned energy company CleanCo. “With this project we expect to dramatically accelerate the decarbonisation of Queensland’s electricity grid,” says Acciona Energia’s Managing Director in Australia Brett Wickham.

A pioneering Australian technology developer has invented a next-generation collapsible shipping container that is set to revolutionise the global shipping and logistics industry. Spectainer’s automated COLLAPSECON solution collapses up to four containers into one without cranes or manual labour, drastically cutting the cost of handling, storing and transporting empty shipping containers – a multi-billion-dollar problem for the industry. A tracking device on each container provides data on fleet movements and carbon emissions. “Our mission is to pioneer the future of global trade by creating innovative, practical and scalable solutions to evolve the shipping and logistics sector,” says Spectainer’s Founder and Managing Director Nicholas Press.

A five-year investment strategy is set to turbocharge Australia’s largest regional economy and accelerate growth in priority industries such as clean energy, circular economy, manufacturing, defence and agrifood. The New South Wales Government’s Regional Investment Attraction Strategy 2022–27 outlines the support and opportunities for businesses looking to expand or establish projects in the state’s regional precincts. It includes A$110 million in grant funding and aims to leverage A$1 billion in private sector investment. “We want to co-invest with businesses from across Australia and around the world to set up and deliver game-changing projects in regional NSW,” says Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole.

The Australian Government and national science agency CSIRO are partnering with Google to better understand and use natural carbon sinks found in the Indo-Pacific and Australian coastlines to combat climate change. Blue carbon ecosystems – such as mangroves, saltmarsh and seagrass – provide long-term carbon storage. The project will combine artificial intelligence and data science with climate science. It will investigate new ways to accurately monitor, map and report on seagrass and associated biodiversity indicators. The collaboration is part of Google's Digital Future Initiative - a A$1 billion investment in Australian infrastructure, research and partnerships.

US medtech giant Stryker has opened its first R&D lab in Australia – a multi-million-dollar facility that will focus on digital health, robotics, clinical software and advanced manufacturing. Located in a collaborative health precinct in the Queensland capital of Brisbane, the investment will see Stryker work with some of Australia’s leading universities and medical research institutes to develop new health products and technologies. “With its world-class research institutions and highly skilled workforce, Australia has the capabilities Stryker needs to develop and produce the next generation of innovative medical technology,” says President of Stryker South Pacific Maurice Ben-Mayor.

In a world first, Australian dairy tech company Naturo has developed a fresh milk that it says is twice as digestible as other processed cow’s milk. Naturo’s groundbreaking Haelen Technology – first used to extend the shelf life of fresh milk – breaks down whey proteins in milk more than other standard milk processing, allowing for easier and faster digestion. “This latest digestibility finding is an incredible market breakthrough and has seen us shift our business strategy to allow worldwide Haelen Technology partnerships and licensing agreements. It opens the door to new products and new market opportunities,” says Naturo founder and CEO Jeff Hastings.

Australia and Japan have signed a new partnership to help secure crucial supply chains of critical minerals needed for the development of clean energy technologies. The partnership will promote opportunities for sharing information and collaboration in areas such as research, investment and commercial arrangements on joint projects. As well as strengthening Australia’s booming critical minerals sector, the new deal opens up opportunities for more foreign investment in the industry. “This new partnership … will help Australia further develop its abundant reserves of critical minerals, which will ultimately help both countries achieve their emissions reductions targets,” says Minister for Resources Madeleine King.