MELBOURNE, March 15 (Reuters) - The Western Australian
government on Wednesday signed a preliminary deal with a South
Korean government-backed research group to exchange scientific
and technical knowledge around the development of critical
minerals.
The agreement comes after Western Australia last month
signed with South Korea's trade industry a deal to look at joint
development opportunities in energy transition industries like
green hydrogen.
Demand is set to surge for minerals key to the green energy
transition such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earths in
the coming years, and Australia is looking to partner with
friendly nations to build up its value adding industry.
"This (Memorandum of Understanding) will enable cooperation
on research and exchange of information with our Korean trading
partners to build capability and reaffirm the importance of
Western Australia in the global supply of critical minerals,"
Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston said.
"Transformational change is needed in how we find
commodities, extract and process them, and convert them for use
in manufacturing processes to support the global efforts in
decarbonisation."
The agreement is between the Minerals Research Institute of
Western Australia (MRIWA) and the Korea Institute of Geoscience
and Mineral Resources.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Varun H K)
+613 9286 1421; Reuters Messaging:
melanie.burton.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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