LATIN AMERICA
THE NEW FRONTIER FOR AUSTRALIAN & CHINESE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Wonderful to attend as the guest of the Australia China Business Council their forum to discuss the emerging markets in the South America mining sector, look at the Chinese investment in this region, discuss opportunities for Australian expertise to expand into rapidly growing South American markets and consider cultural challenges.
It was rewarding to hear from keynote speakers: The Hon Andrew Robb AO, Chairman, Asialink Mr Xu Jiqing, Director MMG Limited, Matthew Schofield, Partner, ShineWing Australia, Prof. Adrian Hearn, University of Melbourne.
IMPEX Managing Director Joseph Buccheri spent 2 years in Chile, Bolivia & Argentina between 2010 to 2012 representing various Chinese State Owned Enterprises and private Australian & Chinese mining interests to identify and source critical minerals for the very reasons articulated in this invaluable Latin American forum with the former Australian Trade Minister.
Critical minerals are mineral commodities that are mostly or entirely imported because of inadequate or uneconomic domestic sources. Many critical minerals are susceptible to supply disruptions that could comprise national defense, transportation, and communications systems:
Aluminum (bauxite), used in almost all sectors of the economy
Antimony, used in batteries and flame retardants
Arsenic, used in lumber preservatives, pesticides, and semi-conductors
Barite, used in cement and petroleum industries
Beryllium, used as an alloying agent in aerospace and defense industries
Bismuth, used in medical and atomic research
Cesium, used in research and development
Chromium, used primarily in stainless steel and other alloys
Cobalt, used in rechargeable batteries and superalloys
Fluorspar, used in the manufacture of aluminum, gasoline, and uranium fuel
Gallium, used for integrated circuits and optical devices like LEDs
Germanium, used for fiber optics and night vision applications
Graphite (natural), used for lubricants, batteries, and fuel cells
Hafnium, used for nuclear control rods, alloys, and high-temperature ceramics
Helium, used for MRIs, lifting agent, and research
Indium, mostly used in LCD screens
Lithium, used primarily for batteries
Magnesium, used in furnace linings for manufacturing steel and ceramics
Manganese, used in steelmaking
Niobium, used mostly in steel alloys
Platinum group metals, used for catalytic agents
Potash, primarily used as a fertilizer
Rare earth elements group, primarily used in batteries and electronics
Rhenium, used for lead-free gasoline and superalloys
Rubidium, used for research and development in electronics
Scandium, used for alloys and fuel cells
Strontium, used for pyrotechnics and ceramic magnets
Tantalum, used in electronic components, mostly capacitors
Tellurium, used in steelmaking and solar cells
Tin, used as protective coatings and alloys for steel
Titanium, overwhelmingly used as a white pigment or metal alloys
Tungsten, primarily used to make wear-resistant metals
Uranium, mostly used for nuclear fuel
Vanadium, primarily used for titanium alloys
Zirconium, used in the high-temperature ceramics industries
April 2019.