Two major critical minerals projects in Queensland and South Australia will receive $400 million in federal government loans to to deliver Australia’s first high-purity alumina processing facility.
Sally Innis, University of British Columbia; Benjamin Cox, University of British Columbia; John Steen, University of British Columbia, and Nadja Kunz, University of British Columbia
Simple economic modelling shows the mining industry would benefit from a carbon tax.
Building renewable energy infrastructure involves mining for materials such as lithium, graphite and cobalt. If not done responsibly, that could cause huge environmental damage.
Eminent economist Ross Garnaut says if climate action fails, he fears the consequences ‘would be beyond contemporary Australia’. But zero-emissions iron and aluminium could be the way forward.
If the US were to stop dumping these valuable metals in landfills and to cease exporting them as cheap scrap, its imports could fall, and there would be less of these metals being made from scratch.
The Trump administration recently imposed tariffs of up to 25 percent on foreign steel and aluminum – including from the EU, Canada and Mexico, the three biggest markets for American goods.
On March 1, Donald Trump imposed a series of steel and aluminum tariffs. To understand their potential impact, it’s instructive to look at what happened after George W. Bush enacted similar measures in 2002.
Canada rushed to counter a deadly lung disease afflicting gold miners in the early 20th century. The “quick fix” cure that was invented is a symbol of the lurch towards global industrialization.