FEATURE | Trump backs AUKUS submarine pact, signs minerals deal with Australia

As part of the rare earths agreement, Trump and Albanese agreed to cut permitting times for mines, processing facilities, and related operations in order to boost production.

The deal called for cooperation on mapping geological resources, minerals recycling, and efforts to stop the sale of critical minerals assets “on national security grounds.”

This was an oblique reference to China, which has bought major mining assets worldwide over the past decade, including the world’s largest cobalt mine in Congo, from US-based Freeport-McMoRan.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney and Andrea Shalal, Steve Holland, and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Kate Mayberry, Colleen Jenkins, and Nick Zieminski)