Understanding the US-Australia Mining Framework
Understanding the US-Australia Mining Framework
Words Founders Factory
November 3rd 2025 / 6 min read
The United States and Australia signed a landmark common policy framework for mining and processing critical minerals and rare earths. The framework signals a shared commitment to building diversified and sustainable supply chains for the raw materials powering clean energy, defence, and advanced technology.
This collaboration between two of the world’s most resource-rich and innovation-driven nations sets the stage for an industrial era built on shared investment, faster deployment, and technology-led sustainability.
At Founders Factory this framework mirrors some of the work we’re doing. Across both territories, we’re working with governments, corporate partners, and entrepreneurs to accelerate the technologies that will make this framework a reality. From automation and advanced materials to biodiversity monitoring and resource circularity, our portfolio of startups is building the foundations of a more resilient industrial ecosystem.
We’re looking forward to seeing the framework turned into tangible industrial transformation through the collaboration of countries, commercial partners and startups.
Interested in receiving more insights like this ? Subscribe to our newsletter and join 20,000+ founders, investors, and innovators
Subscribe hereAligning innovation with global priorities
Critical minerals and rare earths are essential to everything from batteries and wind turbines to AI infrastructure and microchips. Yet, global supply chains remain fragile and heavily concentrated. The new U.S.–Australia framework lays out an ambitious roadmap to change that with commitments to invest at least $1 billion in new mining and processing projects across both countries, streamline permitting, and strengthen recycling and materials recovery systems.
The new framework aims to:
Accelerate secure and sustainable mining & processing
Mobilise $1B+ in financing for new projects in each country
Streamline permitting and investment pathways
Strengthen recycling, mapping, and supply chain resilience
Foster international collaboration on fair pricing and standards
Bridging the industrial and environmental divide
The timing of the U.S.–Australia framework couldn’t be more significant. Around the world, nations are balancing the urgent need for critical minerals with rising expectations for sustainability and biodiversity protection. We will see how this policy materialises in tangible projects across both countries.
Through our accelerator programmes, we’re seeing first hand how technology can help industry meet rising material demand while restoring ecosystems and reducing carbon emissions. In Western Australia, our portfolio startups are benefiting from pilot partnerships with major resource operators like Rio Tinto, aligning innovation with real-world deployment. In the United States, our nature and biodiversity startups are leveraging AI, automation, and robotics to build measurable, scalable environmental impact.
These connections between industrial tech and nature tech are where the future lies. Together, they form a blueprint for sustainable industry, one where economic growth and environmental stewardship reinforce each other, rather than compete.
Collaboration as the catalyst
The U.S.–Australia framework formalises something we already believe. True progress depends on the combination of corporate scale, startup ingenuity, and policy alignment, each amplifying the other’s actions. In other words, that industrial transformation depends on cooperation.
At Founders Factory, our role is to connect these forces. Through partnerships with industry leaders, governments, and investors, we help founders in hard-to-abate sectors move from lab to pilot, and pilot to full commercial scale, ensuring that innovation reaches the field.
Frameworks like this are signals of a global shift toward collaborative, technology-led industrial growth. And for founders building in this space, they’re a reminder that the future of industry will be shaped not just by the resources we extract, but by the ecosystems we build together.
News from the Factory Floor
trends
Understanding the US-Australia Mining Framework
This collaboration between two of the world’s most resource-rich and innovation-driven nations sets the stage for an industrial era built on shared investment, faster deployment, and technology-led sustainability.
practical advice
Finding Product–Market Fit: The Lapis Approach to Rethinking Market Focus
This is the story of Lapis, backed by Founders Factory and Mediobanca through our MBSpeedUp Accelerator, reimagining how knowledge is stored, retrieved, and applied inside financial institutions.
trends
How can we find better ways to reduce the impact of mining?
Rio Tinto and Founders Factory have launched a new challenge for our Accelerator to transform mining operations in Western Australia – and are calling on startups to join