The economic and strategic importance of multi-metals processing
27.05.2025 - 07:30
Mandala was commissioned by Nyrstar to provide an independent summary of the significance of lead and zinc refining in Australia. This report finds that Australia’s existing capabilities are a gateway to domestic critical minerals processing, but fundamental shifts in the global industrial policy landscape are undermining Australia’s current and future processing capabilities.
Australia has the largest reserves of lead and zinc globally and an established refining capability, ranking as the third largest exporter of refined and intermediate lead and the second largest exporter of refined zinc in the world.
Nyrstar is Australia’s major lead and zinc producer, with two multi-metals smelters: Nyrstar Port Pirie and Nyrstar Hobart. Both facilities are core pillars of the local industrial base and the Australian economy, contributing $1.7 billion gross value added in 2024 and supporting 6,648 full time equivalent jobs across the country.
Lead and zinc refining is an essential precursor to capturing and processing five critical minerals: antimony, bismuth, tellurium, germanium, and indium.
Nyrstar Port Pirie is Australia’s only producer of refined lead with critical minerals extraction capacity.
Lead and zinc smelters around the world are operating in challenging economic conditions. Maintaining lead and zinc refining capabilities outside of China will become increasingly challenging. If other countries exit lead and zinc smelting, China could achieve monopoly power in this market and maintain majority control of the global supply of associated critical minerals.
Australia’s lead and zinc smelting capabilities are fundamental to Australia’s ambition to leverage its high-quality mineral deposits and become a leading exporter of value-added critical minerals.
Maintaining a robust domestic industry has economic, strategic, security, industrial, and societal benefits.
Read the full report here.
Read our latest posts
Unlocking the productivity dividend of digital government
Our latest research in collaboration with Microsoft examines how cloud infrastructure can unlock substantial productivity gains for the Australian Government. This study reveals that the Government could unlock $1.4 billion a year in fiscal savings and productivity gains to 2035 through public cloud's efficient use of IT labour and infrastructure. We find that government agencies can reduce their IT budgets by 7 to 28 per cent through 2035, while delivering enhanced cybersecurity, resilience, and service delivery across the public sector.
2 Sep, 2025
Unlocking Australia's R&D potential
Our research in collaboration with Atlassian, the BCA and Cochlear sets out a path forward for Australia to realise its R&D potential. Australia’s productivity growth is at a 60-year low, driven in part by declining business investment in R&D. Our latest report highlights the critical role large businesses play in Australia’s innovation ecosystem and the urgent need for policy reform. Despite strong talent and institutions, Australia underperforms global peers due to high costs and uncompetitive incentives. The report outlines six targeted reforms - including simplified R&D tax incentives and a commercialisation premium - that could together generate $7.7 billion in annual economic output and lift productivity by 0.1%, with a fiscally neutral impact. With the Strategic Examination of R&D underway, this is a pivotal opportunity to restore Australia’s innovation edge.
28 Jul, 2025
Digital platforms and competition in Australia
Our latest research in collaboration with Apple examines proposals to introduce an ex ante competition framework for digital platforms in Australia by assessing digital platform regulations in international jurisdictions. We find that jurisdictions that have implemented ex ante regimes have experienced implementation challenges, with consequences for users and the economy. This study highlights that the need for regulatory regimes to preserve the benefits delivered by platforms while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to rapidly evolving technologies.
24 Jul, 2025
Climate Risk Index for the European Energy Sector
Mandala Partners in partnership with Zurich Resilience Solutions has produced Europe's first comprehensive Climate Risk Index for renewable energy infrastructure across five major European markets. This groundbreaking analysis reveals the scale of climate vulnerability facing Europe's clean energy transition and provides actionable insights for building resilience across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Nearly half of Europe's renewable generation capacity is in critical climate risk categories, threatening the foundation of the continent's energy security and economic stability.
16 Jul, 2025