Mining has long been a cornerstone of the Australian economy, making it the fourth-largest mining country in the world and the world’s largest producer of lithium and a global top-five producer of gold, iron ore, lead, zinc, and nickel.
🌏🇫🇷🇦🇺 The French Critical Minerals Tour showcased French expertise in METS, geology, research, and academia, advancing partnerships with Australia. With France’s largest pavilion in Australia, we brought together 33 companies to strengthen sustainable mining collaborations. Outstanding support over the past year from Rob Blayney and Crista Bracamonte in NSW, and Philippe Pierson and Krystal H. in WA, has made this achievement possible.
Key highlights :
• Team France’s stand IMARC 2024 — a one-stop showcase of French METS, geologists, and researchers delivering comprehensive mining solutions.
• New Caledonia’s delegation of five companies, spotlighting their expertise in nickel mining and creating synergies with Australian industry.
• Strengthening France’s collaboration with the European delegation to Australia to advance sustainable CRM through the EU-Australia hashtag#CRM partnership. Special thanks to Joanna P. and Tim Dixon for their collaboration. hashtag#EUinAUS
• A visit to Fortescue’s The Hive, a 2,500m² automated operations center managing mining activities remotely, integrating rail, port, and supply chains to maximize efficiency and safety.
• Rio Tinto’s Pilbara operations, moving over 1 million tonnes of iron ore daily on 2-km autonomous rail lines, solidifying Australia’s position as the world’s largest iron ore exporter, accounting for 56.4% of global exports.
• The presence of Benjamin Gallezot France’s Interministerial Delegate for Strategic Metals and Minerals, reinforcing the France-Australia MoU on critical minerals, with Diane Fauconnier and Inès Abderrahmane
We also had the opportunity to meet with prominent companies and projects, including Australian Strategic Materials (ASM), Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd, Southern Cross Gold, Avenira Limited, Cadoux, Austmine, Amira Global, Iluka Resources, Lynas Rare Earths Ltd, Technip Energies, and, last but not least, the Yarra, the Fortescue and Rio Tinto teams.
Special thanks to our invaluable partners who have collaborated with us over the past year to make this mission a success: Candice FRANCESCONI LEVET, Yves Lafoy, Fabien Trotet, CNRT; Emmanuelle Robins-Ouagne, at POLE AVENIA; Stéphane Bourg, OFREMI – Observatoire français des ressources minérales pour les filières industrielles and Patrick d’Hugues BRGM.
We are also grateful for the unwavering support of French Ambassador Pierre-Andre Imbert and Stéphanie Morley, Trade Commissioner. A final thank you to Jean-Marc Maurice for his outstanding leadership over the past year and to our dynamic team — Margaux Cavillon, Laure Michel, Zu Feng Liu, Maxime Bieliaeff and Dimitry Karpenko — for making this mission a true success. Together, we’re building a sustainable, innovation-driven future for mining!
Fernando Guerra Alves