One year after President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed the United States-Australia Critical Minerals Framework, the allies are turning billions of dollars in financing commitments into construction of projects expected to deliver gallium, rare earths, scandium, and other critical minerals into allied supply chains.
Since the Oct. 20, 2025, signing of the framework, the two countries have announced more than A$5 billion ($3.5 billion) in support for Australian critical minerals projects – a substantial increase from the initial commitments made during the White House signing ceremony.
In a fact sheet coinciding with the signing, the White House characterized the critical minerals pact designed to leverage America’s industrial demand and Australia’s global mining leadership as “a model for supply-chain cooperation globally.”
On the first anniversary of the framework agreement, the U.S. Embassy in Australia reports that U.S.-backed projects have advanced to construction in Australia that are expected to eventually supply roughly 10% of global gallium and nearly 5% of rare earths demand.
Among the most significant milestones are the August groundbreaking of Alcoa’s gallium recovery facility in Western Australia and the beginning of construction at Arafura Rare Earths’ Nolans project in the Northern Territory earlier this month.
“The United States salutes Australia for its efforts to build out critical minerals processing and refining,” said U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg.
“By building supply chains with trusted partners, we reduce coercive dependencies and strengthen our alliance,” he added. “This partnership delivers real benefits for the American and Australian people and the companies that power our economies.”
From commitments to construction
A major step toward delivering the minerals envisioned under the bilateral agreement came Aug. 24, when Alcoa broke ground on a gallium recovery facility being developed alongside its Wagerup alumina refinery in Western Australia.
The facility is designed to produce 100 metric tons of gallium annually, enough to account for roughly 10% of global supply of this semiconductor metal critical to advanced electronics, communications technologies, and defense systems.
The gallium project is a trilateral effort involving Australia, Japan, and the U.S., along with Alcoa and Japanese trading company Sojitz Corp.
On Aug. 31, the U.S. Department of War announced an estimated $174 million equity financing investment to support the construction of the gallium facility.
By recovering gallium from the alumina refining process, the project is expected to establish a significant new source of this strategically important metal outside China, which dominates global gallium production.
A second major milestone came Oct. 8, when Arafura Rare Earths began construction of its Nolans rare earths mine and processing complex roughly 85 miles north of Alice Springs in Australia’s Northern Territory.
Nolans, one of the original priority projects identified by Trump and Albanese during the October 2025 signing, is being developed as an integrated mine-to-rare-earth-oxide operation expected to meet 4% to 5% of global rare earths demand once operational.
The project is backed by the Australian government, which has committed A$1.2 billion ($840 million) in support through several financing mechanisms, including the nation’s Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve.
Nolans reached a final investment decision in May, following an Australian government commitment to an offtake arrangement under the Strategic Reserve.
Government credit agencies from the U.S., Canada, South Korea, and Germany are also supporting development of the Nolans project, which is expected to employ roughly 600 people during construction and more than 350 once operating.
“The rare earths to be mined and processed at Nolans are critical for making high-end magnets used in everything from electric vehicles to fighter jets,” Australia Resources Minister Madeleine King said during the October groundbreaking.
“Getting the project up and running is a real-world example of how the Albanese Government is taking the lead to harden our economic and national security,” she added.
Billions backing critical minerals
While Alcoa and Arafura are among the first major projects to advance to construction under the framework, the two nations are also assembling a broader pipeline of Australian mining and processing developments designed to diversify allied critical minerals supplies.
U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Australia
During the October 2025 signing, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) issued seven letters of interest totaling more than $2.2 billion (A$3.1 billion) in potential financing for Australian projects involving rare earths, graphite, magnesium, scandium, and other strategic minerals.
These include Northern Minerals’ heavy rare earths project in Western Australia, Graphinex’s graphite development in Queensland, and La Trobe Magnesium’s plans to produce magnesium in Victoria.
The letters of interest represent preliminary financing support rather than finalized loans.
In April, Australia and the U.S. expanded their commitments to additional priority projects, including Ardea Resources’ Kalgoorlie nickel project and Tronox Holdings’ rare earths refinery development, both in Western Australia.
EXIM and Export Finance Australia issued coordinated letters of support or interest for up to $1 billion (A$1.4 billion) in combined financing for Ardea and approximately $849 million (A$1.2 billion) for Tronox, further expanding the range of critical minerals targeted by the bilateral alliance.
In August, the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital announced an Aug. 7 conditional commitment for up to $400 million (A$573 million) in financing to support development of Sunrise Energy Metals Ltd.’s Syerston scandium project in New South Wales.
The proposed 25-year loan facility would support the establishment of an allied mine-to-metal scandium supply chain, beginning with the development of the Australian deposit and extending to processing into metal in the United States.
Scandium is a specialty metal prized for its ability to strengthen and lighten aluminum alloys used in aerospace and advanced manufacturing.
The proposed financing remains subject to financial, legal, technical, and other conditions before it can be finalized.
FORGEing allied supply chains
Beyond the investments being directed toward individual projects, Australia and the U.S. are also establishing mechanisms to coordinate their critical minerals strategies and better protect allied industries from supply disruptions.
In March, the two countries established the Critical Minerals Supply Security Response Group to identify vulnerabilities, coordinate financing, and accelerate the delivery of processed critical minerals into allied supply chains.
The bilateral group is also advancing cooperation on geological mapping, streamlining permitting, recovering minerals from waste streams, and protecting critical minerals markets from unfair trade practices.
This coordination extends to Australia’s A$1.2 billion ($840 million) Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve and Project Vault, a $12 billion (A$17.2 billion) critical minerals reserve established by the Trump administration to help protect American manufacturers from supply shocks and market manipulation.
The U.S.-Australia Critical Minerals Framework also fits into a broader international strategy being advanced through the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement, or FORGE, a multinational partnership established by Washington in February to coordinate critical minerals trade, investment, financing, and supply chain security.
Together, these bilateral and multinational efforts seek to establish alternative sources of the minerals and metals that China currently dominates, while ensuring manufacturers in allied nations have access to the materials essential to their economies and national defense.
U.S. Ambassador to Australia David Brat said the achievements over the first year of the critical minerals framework demonstrate how rapidly allies can act when they share expertise, commitment, and trust.
“Critical minerals and rare earths have vital applications across defense, advanced technology, and our everyday lives,” Brat said. “Together, Australia and the United States are diversifying the supply chain to ensure no single nation can use this as leverage against us.”
Author Bio
Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News
Shane Lasley is the founder and publisher of Metal Tech News, where he covers the minerals, metals, and materials that make modern technology possible.
A journalist with nearly two decades of experience covering mining and mineral development, Lasley has expanded his reporting beyond where metals come from to explore what makes them valuable — the unique properties that allow elements such as lithium, rare earths, graphite, gallium, germanium, copper and dozens of others to enable advances in energy, transportation, electronics, aerospace, defense, and emerging technologies.
His reporting follows the entire materials story, from mineral discovery and mine development through processing, supply chains, materials science, and the technologies that ultimately put those resources to work.
Lasley has a particular interest in critical minerals and the increasingly interconnected relationship between mineral resources, technological innovation, energy security, global supply chains, and geopolitics. Through Metal Tech News, he seeks to give readers a deeper understanding of the materials behind innovation and why securing their supply matters.