Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

The real opportunity in Western Australia, in particular, is rare earths. We are the second-largest producer of rare earths in the world, and all of that production at this stage is located in Western Australia, in Senator O'Sullivan's home state.

The thing with rare earths is: they are not that rare. Many of them are actually quite abundant in our earth's crust—like caesium, which is the 25th most abundant mineral in our earth's crust. But what is rare, of course, is finding them in concentrations that can be developed commercially—and Western Australia has those opportunities.

There are about 10 to 20 grams of rare earths in every mobile phone. If you have your mobile phone with you today, when it vibrates that's because of neodymium and dysprosium. We produce those minerals. Companies like Lynas have exciting plans to expand their production, including by developing a separation facility in the United States, which we discussed last week when we were there. Northern Minerals, further north in Western Australia, have also got exciting plans to expand their pilot plant—which we fully back as the Australian government.