Western Australia upping battery chemicals production game

Western Australia is moving beyond mining lithium and nickel into chemical processing, according to an interview by the state mining minister with Reuters.

"It's the chemical steps that are attractive here in Australia," state mining minister Bill Johnston told Reuters. He told the news agency that the processing was done to high environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.

"The next step is to talk to international investors to move further down into chemical processing, either a precursor chemical plant or a cathode active material plant. We believe that we have a strong business case for investment," Johnston told Reuters.

Electric vehicles manufacturers have been trying to stay away from China, which is a dominant producer of batteries. Australia, on the other hand, believes it can compete on both price and responsible production.