United States–Australia Framework for Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths
Summary
Signed in Washington on 20 October 2025 by President Trump and Prime Minister Albanese, the Framework commits the two governments to mobilise government and private support for mining and processing projects "via guarantees, loans, or equity; finalization of offtake arrangements; insurance; or regulatory facilitation", and, within six months, to take measures to provide at least $1 billion in financing to projects in each country; the Australian release says each government will provide at least USD 1 billion towards a USD 8.5 billion pipeline of priority projects. It also commits the participants to work towards standards-based trading with price floors or similar measures, to strengthen authorities that review and deter critical-mineral asset sales on national-security grounds, and to establish a Critical Minerals Supply Security Response Group. Australia announced alongside it up to USD 200 million in concessional equity for the Alcoa-Sojitz Gallium Recovery Project at Wagerup, Western Australia, with an Australian right of offtake and a parallel US equity investment with a right of offtake, and a USD 100 million equity investment in Arafura's Nolans rare-earths project in the Northern Territory. Section II states that the Framework creates no legally binding obligations.
Analytical significance
The first allied instrument in the corpus that pairs two governments' capital with a shared price-floor and asset-sale agenda: the financing mirrors the DoD–MP package at alliance scale, and the gallium project is trilateral, with Japan having funded half of project costs to date according to the Australian release. Because the Framework is expressly non-binding, its USD 1 billion figures are recorded as envelopes that each government says it is taking measures to provide, not as money committed to recipients; the named equity investments are recorded separately and nested under Australia's envelope only as the release implies.
Instruments in this event
The separate financial commitments and control clauses this announcement contains, each with its own status history and evidence.
Financial instruments (7)
Alcoa-Sojitz Gallium Recovery Project
No amount statedGallium recovery at the Alcoa-Sojitz project
Alcoa-Sojitz Gallium Recovery Project
No amount statedGallium recovery at the Alcoa-Sojitz project
Australian Government
at leastUSD1 billionUnited States–Australia Framework for Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths
↳ part of the row above
Alcoa-Sojitz Gallium Recovery Project
up toUSD200 millionGallium recovery at the Alcoa-Sojitz project
↳ part of the row above
Arafura Rare Earths Limited
USD100 millionNolans rare earths project
United States–Australia Framework for Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths
USD8.5 billionUnited States–Australia Framework for Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths
United States Government
at leastUSD1 billionUnited States–Australia Framework for Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths
Framing anchors
Official framing, classified only from quoted passages.
the Participants' objective is to assist both countries in achieving resilience and security of critical minerals and rare earths supply chains, including mining, separation, and processing
From the Framework's recitals, a joint text signed by both governments; coded to Australia because the event is recorded under the Australian release. The recital names no third country.
Affected materials
Related events
Events touching the same materials.
Sources (2)
United States-Australia Framework For Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths
Primary sourceThe White House
Full text of the Framework as signed in Washington on 20 October 2025, read in full in a browser on 2026-09-23. Source of the financing clause ("within 6 months ... at least $1 billion in financing to projects located in each of the United States and Australia"), the instrument list (guarantees, loans, equity, offtake, insurance, regulatory facilitation), the price-mechanism and asset-sales clauses, and Section II's statement that the Framework creates no legally binding obligations. The financing clause does not itself say whether the $1 billion is per participant; the Australian release (src-pm-us-au-framework-2025) says each.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/10/united-states-australia-framework-for-securing-of-supply-in-the-mining-and-processing-of-critical-minerals-and-rare-earths/
Historic critical minerals framework signed by President Trump and Prime Minister Albanese
Primary sourcePrime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister's release, dated Tuesday 21 October 2025 in Australia (datetime 2025-10-20T19:16:41Z), read in full in a browser on 2026-09-23 (the site blocks automated clients). Source of "each provide at least USD$1 billion in investments towards an USD$8.5 billion pipeline ... over the next six months", the up to USD$200 million concessional equity in the Alcoa-Sojitz Gallium Recovery Project with an Australian right of offtake, the US equity investment with a right of offtake in the same project, and the USD$100 million equity investment in Arafura's Nolans project.
https://www.pm.gov.au/media/historic-critical-minerals-framework-signed-president-trump-and-prime-minister-albanese
Citation
Cite this record
This cites the record — the project's coding of the instrument. For a claim about what a government actually did, cite the primary document itself; the sources above carry the canonical URLs.
Strategic Materials Policy Tracker. "United States–Australia Framework for Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths." Record evt-us-au-framework-2025, 2025-10-20. https://strategic-materials-policy-tracker.vercel.app/events/evt-us-au-framework-2025