New Zealand needs to unlock our mineral endowment for the low carbon economy, and for traditional uses. We support government policy aiming to achieve this including the adoption of a critical minerals list and strategy.

To this end, the purpose of the critical minerals list needs to be clarified.

The draft critical minerals list, as released, is too narrow. All commercially extracted minerals are critical, otherwise they would not be mined. They are mined to meet demand and for no other reason.