The Australian Government has released additional details on the A$1.2Bn Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve (CMSR) aimed at securing domestic and global supply of key minerals.

As part of the 2025–2026 budget announced in April 2025 , the Australian government announced that it would be developing a CMSR to leverage the strategic value of the country’s critical mineral reserves.

The taskforce was initially set up as a high-priority issue under the jurisdiction of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, but has since moved to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources.

As a producer of critical minerals (rather than a consumer), Australian policymakers have structured the CMSR as an investment and offtake support mechanism for critical minerals projects, rather than a physical metal inventory programme, as is normally the case with other “strategic reserve” mandates in China, the USA, and potentially Europe.

The main mechanism of the reserve will be the acquisition of offtake rights, drawing funding from the expanded Critical Minerals Facility (A$ 5Bn or US$3.3Bn).

The announcement states that this mechanism will help many of these projects “weather global economic uncertainty”; in other words, this will reduce the risks normally associated with critical minerals projects, such as construction and commercial factors.

A further A$185M (US$124.3M) has been set aside for stockpiling and reserve implementation “when required.” Project Blue expects that stockpiling would be more likely to occur if Australia’s industrial policy expanded to include more downstream initiatives.

The government has identified the following funding and support entities that would be committed to supporting this initiative:

• Equity investments, government-backed loans, or co-investments provided through the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF), which has allocated A$15Bn (US$10.1Bn) for investments, including A$1Bn (US$0.67M) for the resources sector.
• The Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive (CMPTI), starting in 2027; upon application, this can provide a tax offset for 10% of processing costs for critical minerals.
• Debt or equity from Export Finance Australia.
• Infrastructure support in Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia through the NAIF (Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility) programme.
  

The reserve will initially focus on antimony, gallium, and rare earth elements, which are essential for batteries, semiconductors, magnets, and other advanced technologies across civilian, industrial, and military applications.

See Project Blue’s previous views on announced projects and initiatives:

• US and Australian governments to support gallium development with Alcoa
• Turning policy into progress: monitoring critical mineral commitments
• Alcoa and Japan Australia Gallium Associates enter joint development agreement for gallium production