Archived Grant Opportunity View - GO5428

Australia’s Critical Minerals Strategy outlines the government’s policy framework for our critical minerals market. Key areas of priority include:

• growing Australia’s critical minerals resource knowledge base and moving into downstream processing, in order to contribute to growing global demand for critical minerals 
• providing incentives for innovation to lower costs and increase competitiveness
• economic development and jobs growth in regional communities.

In 2022, Australian Government is considering providing additional financial support to help strategic early and mid-stage projects to overcome technical and market barriers. The Critical Minerals Accelerator Initiative (program) will support projects through vulnerable points in the development process to help accelerate them towards a point at which they are sufficiently advanced to seek financing, including under the Australian Governments $2 billion Critical Minerals Facility. A comprehensive stock-take of existing projects within the sector has identified a cohort most likely to deliver the program objectives. 

The objectives of the program are to:

• help Australian Critical Minerals projects contribute to supply chains of strategic importance 
• support and lower the risk associated with critical development activities to help progress towards offtake qualification and seeking debt financing to proceed to production

The intended outcomes of the program are to:

• support projects in accelerating the development of their critical minerals resource, including through activities which will help projects obtain offtake and finance.

To be eligible you must:

• have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
• have an Australian Company Number (ACN)
• be non-income-tax-exempt
• be registered for the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
• be invited to apply

and be one of the following entities:

• an entity incorporated in Australia and a trading corporation, where your trading activities
  • form a sufficiently significant proportion of the corporation’s overall activities as to merit it being described as a trading corporation; or
  • are a substantial and not merely peripheral activity of the corporation
• an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust where your trading activities
  • form a sufficiently significant proportion of the corporation’s overall activities as to merit it being described as a trading corporation; or
  • are a substantial and not merely peripheral activity of the corporation.

Joint applications are acceptable, provided you have a lead organisation who is the main driver of the project and is eligible to apply. For further information on joint applications, refer to section 7.2.

Additional eligibility requirements

We can only accept applications:

• for projects that are in the early to mid-stages of development; including:
  • post exploration / pre-feasibility; or
  • feasibility / product demonstration; or
  • planning, design and construction
• where you provide evidence from your board (or chief executive officer or equivalent if there is no board) that the project is supported, and that you can complete the project and meet the costs of the project not covered by grant funding
• where you provide evidence of your capability to provide your share of project costs (such as a funding plan that details where and how you will source funding, balance sheets, evidence of past successful capital raising, evidence of engaging credible commercial advisors). 
• where you provide all mandatory attachments.

We cannot waive the eligibility criteria under any circumstances. 

$50,000,000.00

From $1,000,000.00 to $30,000,000.00

Eligible applicants will be contacted.