Highlights

• Jake Klein, Evolution Mining founder and former Lynas board member, criticized Australia for squandering its rare earths leadership through political complacency and lack of long-term industrial vision.
• While Malaysia offered tax holidays and infrastructure that attracted Lynas processing offshore, Australia now struggles with basic infrastructure gaps and has lost critical IP and processing capabilities.
• Klein challenged Australia to embrace AI, productivity, and multi-decade strategic thinking rather than resource nationalism.
• He warned that without bold reform, the country will continue losing its competitive edge to China and other nations.

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Australia, once a global mining trailblazer, is now “relying on luck over strategy” in the rare earths race, according to industry heavyweight Jake Klein.

In a blistering address (opens in a new tab) at the Melbourne Mining Club (opens in a new tab) on December 4, Klein—founder of Evolution Mining and former Lynas Rare Earths board member—warned that Australia had squandered a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead in critical minerals. “We’re part of the crowd now,” he said. “We could have been a leader.”

Klein’s remarks, reported (opens in a new tab) by Mining.com’s Kristie Batten, hit hard at the political complacency and lack of industrial vision that let the rare earths opportunity slip offshore.

In the early 2000s, Lynas founder Nic Curtis recognized rare earths as strategic—but, Klein noted, struggled for years to gain support from Australia’s capital markets or government. “Malaysia offered a 10-year tax holiday, gas to site, and real infrastructure,” he said. “That’s why the plant went there.”

Today, all the core intellectual property sits offshore, and Australia—despite having the ore—is playing catch-up on processing, talent, and tech. Klein pointed to the Kalgoorlie cracking facility’s power failures as proof that even when projects finally break ground, basic infrastructure gaps persist.

He didn’t stop at industry critique. Klein took aim at Australia’s political system, especially its three-year election cycle, for strangling long-term reform. “The mining industry needs multi-decade thinking,” he warned. “Doing the same thing and expecting the same results is a recipe for failure.”

In contrast, China’s multi-decade strategy has yielded global dominance in rare earths. The U.S., meanwhile, is accelerating critical mineral partnerships—including a deal with Australia. But Klein suggested many of these are more PR than plan: “It’s a good political soundbite. But building a rare earth industry? That’s much more complicated.”

He also challenged Australia to embrace AI and productivity, not nostalgia. “We’re not getting lower energy costs. Labor’s expensive. So let’s compete on efficiency.”

Klein’s bottom line: resource nationalism won’t be enough. Without bold reform, technical capability, and real investment in education and innovation, Australia will keep watching its competitive edge erode—one missed mineral at a time.

Source: Kristie Batten, The Northern Miner, Dec. 4, 2025.

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