PwC report finds Australia has 900+ critical minerals projects, only 13 close to FID

Thursday, 6 August 2026

PwC report finds Australia has 900+ critical minerals projects, but only 13 close to a final investment decision

Just 13 of Australia's 907 critical minerals projects are close to receiving the funding commitment needed to move into construction, according to PwC Australia analysis released today.

PwC is calling for faster project approvals, shared infrastructure precincts, new capital models, and repurposed processing facilities to keep pace with allies' urgent demand for critical minerals.

The report, Securing Australia’s Critical Minerals Future, found that of 907 projects nationwide, and 117 projects within what PwC calls the “investable universe”, just 13 have reached Definitive Feasibility Study stage, the last stage before a Final Investment Decision (FID) can be made.

An FID is the formal commitment made by a company and its investors to fund and build a project. The report notes only six projects have reached the milestone since 2022.

PwC Australia partner Lachy Haynes said the findings exposed a widening gap between Australia's mineral wealth and its ability to deliver.

"Allies are placing a premium on speed to production. Australia is still a partner of choice, but that only holds if we can bring projects to market faster.”

The report found:

• 675 projects (74 per cent of the pipeline) remain in exploration or reserves development.

• Only six projects reached FID between 2022 and mid-2026, after a near four-year gap with no FIDs at all.

• Within the investable universe, nearly 90 per cent of projects are three to six years from FID, with some complex projects taking up to ten years.

• Just eight processing facility projects were identified across the total pool of 907 projects.

Mr Haynes said accelerating the pace of industry development would take sustained, coordinated effort.

"Australia needs to work out which projects can genuinely move fast and back them. Shared enabling infrastructure across multiple projects, bilateral agreements with purchasing commitments, and smarter use of existing brownfield sites for co-located processing can all help the industry develop," he said.

"This isn't a problem anyone can solve alone. PwC will keep working with industry to identify projects that can move faster, those that could benefit from aggregation via a precinct approach, and the changes needed to make this happen.”

Read the full report here: https://www.pwc.com.au/mining/critical-minerals-investible-universe.html