Top 10 Critical Mineral Deals: US-Australia’s $8.5 B Pact and the EU’s $24 B CRMA Initiative (2024-2025)

Geopolitical strategy is now the primary driver of the global battery supply chain, as governments and corporations aggressively fund domestic and “friend-shored” capacity to reduce over-reliance on single sources. A torrent of policy-driven capital, exemplified by the US-Australia $8.5 billion bilateral framework and the EU’s first $24 billion project tranche under the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), is fundamentally reordering mineral sourcing. The dominant theme emerging for 2025 is a two-pronged approach: securing upstream resources through direct automaker-miner partnerships and scaling a circular economy via massive investments in battery recycling. Major corporate moves, like CATL‘s $6 billion vertical integration project in Indonesia and General Motors’ joint venture at the Thacker Pass mine, confirm that securing the entire value chain is now the central competitive goal.

1. EU Approves First Strategic Projects Under Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA)

Parties Involved: European Commission and 47 selected companies/projects
Deal Value: $24 billion
Minerals/Segment: Diversified across mining, processing, and recycling of battery minerals and rare earth elements
Source: EU approves first 47 projects worth $24 billion to secure critical raw …

EU Faces Major Critical Minerals Gap by 2030

The chart illustrates the significant gap between the EU’s projected critical mineral needs and its supply, providing the direct rationale for the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and the strategic projects approved under it.

(Source: Elements by Visual Capitalist)

2. US-Australia Landmark Bilateral Critical Minerals Framework

Parties Involved: United States Government, Australian Government
Deal Value: $8.5 billion
Minerals/Segment: A comprehensive framework for joint investment in lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earths supply chains
Source: US-Australia $8.5 B Critical Minerals Partnership 2025 – Green Li-ion

3. CATL and Partners’ Vertically Integrated Battery Value Chain Project in Indonesia

Parties Involved: CATL and partners
Deal Value: US$6 billion
Minerals/Segment: A full battery value chain covering nickel mining, processing, battery manufacturing, and recycling
Source: CATL and Partners Break Ground on US$6 Billion Battery …

Global Rankings for EV Battery Supply Chain

This chart, which ranks China as #1 in the battery supply chain, provides context for CATL’s (a Chinese company) large-scale investment in Indonesia, demonstrating the expansion of the world’s leading supply chain into a key emerging raw material hub.

(Source: Elements by Visual Capitalist)

4. Redwood Materials’ $3.5 B Expansion for Domestic Battery Component Manufacturing

Parties Involved: Redwood Materials
Deal Value: $3.5 billion
Minerals/Segment: Battery recycling and component manufacturing (cobalt, nickel, lithium)
Source: Redwood Challenges China’s Mineral Grip – Battery Technology

Lithium-Ion Battery Chemistries and Mineral Makeup

The chart details the specific mineral components of battery chemistries, illustrating exactly what materials Redwood Materials’ expanded domestic manufacturing project will be producing and recycling.

(Source: CEPAL)

5. U.S. Government Awards for Domestic Battery Manufacturing Sector

Parties Involved: U.S. Government and 25 selected projects
Deal Value: $3 billion in direct awards
Minerals/Segment: Processed critical minerals, battery components, manufacturing, and recycling
Source: US to award $3 billion to 25 projects for battery manufacturing sector

6. U.S. Department of Energy’s $1 B Critical Minerals Funding Initiative

Parties Involved: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Deal Value: Nearly $1 billion
Minerals/Segment: Battery materials processing, rare earths, byproduct recovery, and supply chain resilience
Source: DOE Announces 4 New Critical Minerals Funding Opportunities

Net Zero Goals to Spike Critical Mineral Demand

This chart provides the high-level justification for the DOE’s funding initiative by linking the massive projected spike in mineral demand directly to the pursuit of net-zero emissions goals.

(Source: CEPAL)

7. General Motors and Lithium Americas’ Thacker Pass Joint Venture

Parties Involved: General Motors (GM), Lithium Americas
Deal Value: $864 million
Minerals/Segment: Lithium mining and processing
Source: GM, Lithium Americas partner in $864-million joint venture

Global Reserves of Critical Minerals Highly Concentrated

The chart’s depiction of highly concentrated global mineral reserves underscores the strategic value of the Thacker Pass venture, a major domestic lithium source that enhances U.S. supply chain security.

(Source: Goldman Sachs)

8. MP Materials and Department of Defense Public-Private Partnership

Parties Involved: MP Materials, U.S. Department of Defense (Do D)
Deal Value: Not specified
Minerals/Segment: Rare Earth Elements (REEs) processing and magnet manufacturing
Source: MP Materials Announces Transformational Public-Private …

9. Blue Whale Materials Selected for $55 M DOE Award

Parties Involved: Blue Whale Materials, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Deal Value: $55 million
Minerals/Segment: Battery materials processing and manufacturing from recycled sources
Source: Blue Whale Materials Selected for $55 M DOE Award Negotiation

Global Production of Critical Minerals Skyrockets

The chart showing skyrocketing global mineral production illustrates the massive scale of the market and the growing future stream of end-of-life materials, justifying government awards to recyclers like Blue Whale Materials to build a circular economy.

(Source: Visual Capitalist)

10. American Battery Technology Company Awarded $20 M DOE Tax Credit

Parties Involved: American Battery Technology Company (ABTC), U.S. DOE
Deal Value: $20 million (48 C Tax Credit)
Minerals/Segment: Critical minerals battery recycling
Source: American Battery Technology Company Awarded $20 Million Tax …

Latin America’s Concentration of Critical Mineral Reserves

By showing the heavy concentration of conventional lithium reserves in Latin America, the chart highlights the strategic importance of the American Battery Technology Company’s award to develop alternative, domestic U.S. lithium sources.

(Source: CEPAL)

Top 10 Critical Mineral Deals & Investments (2024-2025)

Critical Mineral Demand Projected to Surge by 2030

As an introduction to the top deals and investments, this chart perfectly sets the scene by illustrating the projected surge in mineral demand, which is the primary economic driver for these large-scale investments.

(Source: Statista)

Battery Supply Chain Investment, Governments Drive Full-Stack Adoption Beyond Mining

Recent strategic deals reveal a decisive shift toward building holistic, self-sufficient supply chains. The investments are no longer confined to upstream extraction but span the entire value chain: mining (Lithium Americas), midstream processing (MP Materials), component manufacturing, and end-of-life recycling (Redwood Materials, Blue Whale Materials). This full-stack approach implies that governments and corporations recognize that control over a single segment is insufficient for true supply chain resilience. The direct involvement of automakers like General Motors in an $864 million joint venture for lithium mining signals that end-users are becoming active participants in securing their raw material pipelines, moving far beyond traditional offtake agreements.

US and EU Alliances, A Geopolitical Push for Mineral Supply Chain Security

The geographic pattern of investment is explicitly geopolitical. The United States and the European Union have emerged as the epicenters of a coordinated push to build regional supply chains, using landmark industrial policies like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the CRMA as powerful levers. The US-Australia $8.5 billion partnership is a cornerstone of this “friend-shoring” strategy, creating a secure supply axis between two allied nations rich in resources and capital. In parallel, CATL’s massive $6 billion investment in Indonesia’s nickel sector highlights the strategic importance of resource-rich nations as key hubs for corporate-led vertical integration. This trend creates a clear alignment of capital and policy aimed at diversifying critical mineral sources away from single points of failure.

$3.5 Billion Investment, Redwood Materials Validates Commercial-Scale Recycling

The slate of deals in 2024 and 2025 demonstrates a crucial pivot towards scaling commercially mature technologies, particularly in recycling. While new mining remains vital, as seen with the Thacker Pass project, the enormous capital flowing into the circular economy signals its arrival as a mainstream supply source. Redwood Materials‘ $3.5 billion expansion is not a speculative venture; it is an industrial-scale play to create one of America’s largest domestic sources of battery materials. Furthermore, government awards to American Battery Technology Company ($20 million tax credit) and Blue Whale Materials ($55 million award) validate that recycling is now viewed as a bankable, scalable solution. The focus has clearly shifted from funding lab-scale demonstrations to deploying industrial-sized facilities capable of closing the loop on the battery supply chain.

Chart Shows Rising Critical Mineral Thresholds for Batteries

The chart, showing rising mineral content in batteries, explains the strengthening economic case for recycling. This trend helps validate Redwood Materials’ massive $3.5 billion investment in commercial-scale recycling technology.

(Source: Center on Global Energy Policy – Columbia University)

Mineral Processing Capacity, Expect a 2025 Scramble for Midstream Assets

The most critical strategic action in the coming year will be the race to acquire or build midstream mineral processing capacity. As Western nations work to close the gap with established players, controlling the conversion of raw ores into battery-grade materials has become the central bottleneck. If this trend accelerates, expect a wave of M&A activity and new joint ventures focused specifically on refining and processing assets. Signals from the most recent data confirm this trajectory:

• The U.S. Department of Energy’s August 2025 announcement of nearly $1 billion in funding, with up to $500 million dedicated to the Battery Materials Processing and Manufacturing program, shows a clear federal priority to close this midstream gap.
• The EU’s CRMA framework, which sets explicit domestic targets for processing capacity, reinforces this strategic imperative on a transatlantic scale and is backed by an initial $24 billion in approved projects.
• The public-private partnership between MP Materials and the Department of Defense to re-establish a mine-to-magnet supply chain underscores that domestic processing is now treated as a matter of national security, not just economic policy.
• Private sector leaders like CATL are not just securing mines but are building integrated processing facilities as part of their $6 billion Indonesian project, demonstrating that control over this value-chain step is a prerequisite for market leadership.

China Dominates Critical Mineral Processing Market

This chart’s clear depiction of China’s dominance in the midstream processing market directly explains the ‘scramble for midstream assets’ described in the section, as other nations rush to build alternative processing capacity.

(Source: CSIS)

The questions your competitors are already asking

This report covers one angle of the policy-driven deals reshaping the global critical minerals supply chain. The questions that matter most depend on your work.

• Which automakers and miners are gaining or losing ground in securing upstream lithium and cobalt supply?
• What is the status of the US-Australia critical minerals framework? Are joint investments progressing from announcement to deployment?
• General Motors’ investment in the Thacker Pass mine. Is the project on track to meet its lithium production targets for North American EV manufacturing?
• What are the partnership opportunities for battery recyclers within the new EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) framework?

This report does not answer these. Enki Brief Pro does.

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