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Australian minerals fuel Chinese technology, prompting calls to tighten supplies
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A worker picks up a handful of rare earth concentrate that has been left to dry in the sun at Mount Weld, northeast of Perth, Australia.
PHOTO: REUTERS
SYDNEY - During the past two decades, Australia’s massive exports of iron ore have helped to fuel China’s infrastructure boom and led to Australia being known as “China’s quarry”.
Now, a new line of Australian resources is fuelling China’s technology boom. In recent years, Australia has been exporting large volumes of lithium and other “critical minerals” such as cobalt and rare earths that have helped China become a major maker of electric vehicles, smartphones, batteries and solar panels.
