Argus Critical Minerals Forum 2026: Perth Agenda & Details

• The Argus Australia Critical Minerals Forum runs Wednesday, 19 August 2026, from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM AWST, at the Westin Perth, Cassia and Karri Room, 480 Hay St, Perth WA 6000.
• Admission is free; registration is required, with confirmation emails sent one week before the event.
• Jo Clarke, Argus Media’s Head of Oceania, delivers the opening address before three back-to-back market sessions on rare earths and critical minerals, battery metals, and nickel.
• The rare earths session addresses how China’s export controls are driving price volatility and reshaping global trade flows.
• The nickel session examines whether Indonesia’s RKAB production cuts and higher prices could revive Australia’s domestic nickel industry.
• An 80-minute panel on investment and alternative supply chains runs from 3:00 PM to 4:20 PM, followed by a networking drinks reception until 6:00 PM.
• The forum sits against the backdrop of Australia’s A$1.2 billion Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, due to become operational in the second half of 2026.

Agenda: What’s on the Programme

The Argus Australia Critical Minerals Forum runs as a single afternoon session rather than a multi-day conference. Registration and coffee open at 1:00 PM AWST, followed by an opening address from Jo Clarke, Argus Media’s Head of Oceania, at 1:30 PM. Three consecutive market sessions follow: rare earths and critical minerals from 1:40 PM to 2:00 PM, battery metals from 2:00 PM to 2:20 PM, and nickel from 2:20 PM to 2:40 PM, before a coffee break at 2:40 PM.

The rare earths session addresses how China’s export controls are driving price volatility and reshaping global trade flows, a theme that has run through much of the 2026 rare earth conference calendar. The battery session asks whether the current lithium price rebound is sustainable and how rising battery demand is reshaping the manganese supply chain. The nickel session examines whether Indonesia’s RKAB production cuts and higher nickel prices could revive Australia’s domestic nickel industry.

From 3:00 PM to 4:20 PM, an 80-minute panel discussion covers investment and alternative supply chains, followed by closing remarks and a networking drinks reception running until 6:00 PM. Admission is free, though registration is required through Argus Media’s official event page.

Policy Backdrop: Australia’s Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve

The forum’s investment and supply-chain sessions sit against the backdrop of Australia’s A$1.2 billion Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, funded through the 2025-26 federal budget and due to become operational in the second half of 2026. The reserve prioritises antimony, gallium and rare earth elements as its first focus minerals, and is now administered by a taskforce within the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, as set out in the government’s own announcement.

For attendees assessing how the reserve interacts with commercial supply chains, the forum’s investment panel is likely to be the most directly relevant session, since it covers financing structures and alternative supply-chain strategies rather than technical project detail.

Perth’s Producer Base and the AusIMM Comparison

Perth’s selection as host city places the forum close to Western Australia’s operating and development-stage rare earth assets, part of the broader Australia rare earth producer base.

Lynas Rare Earths operates the Mt Weld mine and concentration plant, one of the most established rare earth operations in Western Australia.

Iluka Resources is developing its Eneabba refinery, while Hastings Technology Metals’ Yangibana project and Northern Minerals’ Browns Range operation add further Western Australian project exposure. Arafura Rare Earths and Australian Strategic Materials extend the national picture into the Northern Territory and New South Wales.

A comparative view of the field, including production stage and project scale, is available in the top rare earth mining companies in Australia list.

The Argus forum should not be confused with the AusIMM Critical Minerals Conference, a separate three-day technical event scheduled for Brisbane in September 2026 and built around technical papers for geologists, metallurgists and processing engineers. Argus’s Perth forum is a single-afternoon, market- and investment-focused session aimed at a commercial and policy audience rather than a technical one.