May tech talk: Building Australia’s Critical Minerals Future - Strategy, Stewardship and Regional Partnership

Join the Melbourne Branch for their May tech talk: Building Australia’s Critical Minerals Future - Strategy, Stewardship and Regional Partnership.

About this event

Australia’s role in global critical minerals supply chains is expanding rapidly, driven by the need for secure, diversified sources of rare earths and mineral sands.

This presentation explores Iluka Resources’ evolution from a long‑established mineral sands producer to an emerging integrated rare earths supplier, with a focus on how onshore value‑adding, land stewardship and regional partnership underpin that transition.

The Eneabba Rare Earths Refinery in Western Australia represents a strategic step in bringing high‑value processing onshore, strengthening Australia’s sovereign capability and reducing reliance on offshore refining.

The presentation turns to Iluka’s Wimmera project in western Victoria as a future feedstock source for the refinery and the next evolution of Iluka’s Victorian operations. Drawing on Iluka’s long history in the Murray Basin, the session examines how land access, landholder negotiation, rehabilitation and closure planning, approvals pathways and community trust are integrated into project design from the outset.

The focus is on the practical realities of developing major resource projects in agricultural regions, and how long‑term relationships and social licence are critical to delivering enduring outcomes for industry, communities and the land.