# The minerals the modern world is built on, and where Australia digs them up.

> Batteries, magnets, chips, jets and wind turbines all depend on a short list of hard-to-source elements. This is where they are, what they do, and who is racing to supply them.

Source page: https://critical-minerals-au.vercel.app/

Critical minerals are the elements that modern technology cannot do without, and that are at risk of supply disruption. They are the magnets in an electric motor, the cathode in a battery, the semiconductor in a phone, and the heat-resistant alloy in a jet engine.

Australia sits on some of the world's largest reserves of lithium, cobalt, rare earths, vanadium, titanium and more. As the world electrifies and re-arms, that endowment has become strategically decisive.

This website maps where those minerals are, what they are, what they are used in, who is developing them, and how to study the field, drawing on open data from **Geoscience Australia**, **Austrade** and the **IISS**.

## Why they matter

Three forces are driving demand at once:

- **The energy transition.** Electric vehicles, grid storage, wind turbines and solar panels are far more mineral-intensive than the technologies they replace. The EU expects its rare-earth demand to rise sixfold by 2030.
- **Defence and security.** A single F-35 contains over 400 kg of rare-earth materials. NATO and allied governments now publish lists of the raw materials deemed critical to defence.
- **The digital economy.** Every phone, data centre and chip fab runs on gallium, silicon, tantalum, cobalt and rare earths.

The catch is concentration: for several of these minerals, a single country controls most of global mining *and* processing. Australia, with its geology, mining expertise and stable institutions, is central to building a more resilient supply.

## Explore

- [Map of Australia's critical-minerals projects](https://critical-minerals-au.vercel.app/map): An interactive map of every operating mine, developing project and mineral deposit of critical minerals across Australia.
- [The critical minerals, and what they power](https://critical-minerals-au.vercel.app/elements): An interactive periodic table of Australia's critical minerals, and a 3D look at the aircraft, phones, weapons, renewables and satellites they go into.
- [Critical minerals companies & projects](https://critical-minerals-au.vercel.app/projects): A searchable directory of Australian critical-minerals companies and projects from Austrade's 2026 prospectus.
- [Invest in Australian critical minerals](https://critical-minerals-au.vercel.app/invest): Government finance and incentives, ASX-listed producers and developers, and funds and data for Australia's critical-minerals sector. Educational, not financial advice.
- [Study critical minerals in Australia](https://critical-minerals-au.vercel.app/study): Australian university degrees, research centres and pathways for studying critical minerals, mining and metallurgy.
- [Data & sources](https://critical-minerals-au.vercel.app/about-data): Where the data on this website comes from, and how it is licensed.
- [Terms & conditions](https://critical-minerals-au.vercel.app/terms): The terms governing use of this independent, educational critical-minerals showcase.
- [Privacy policy](https://critical-minerals-au.vercel.app/privacy): How this static, privacy-respecting critical-minerals showcase handles data.