A prominent mining-industry figure, Robert Friedland, has thrown his weight behind a burgeoning rare-earth project in New South Wales, intensifying western efforts to diversify away from Chinese dominance in the sector.

The initiative is anchored by Sunrise Energy Metals, co-chaired by Friedland, which is developing a scandium and rare-earth mine near Parkes, some 350 km west of Sydney.

The company recently raised about US$30 million to fund pre-construction activities and expects production to begin in 2028.

The timing of the funding follows the October agreement between the United States Department of State and the Australian government, under which each pledged US$1 billion into critical-minerals processing and supply-chain projects.

The Parkes project will extract scandium, a rare-earth metal increasingly vital to aerospace, automotive and hydrogen-fuel technology.

Downstream processing is expected to take place in the United States.

Sunrise has also secured a supply agreement with Lockheed Martin to manage up to 25 per cent of its output.

While western partners celebrate the move as a new chapter in critical-minerals independence, the venture still carries ties to China: Chinese investor Jíang Zháobǎi remains Sunrise’s third-largest shareholder.

Australia’s investment regime allows such involvement so long as control remains in domestic hands.

Friedland’s involvement brings both capital and strategic heft to the project, which aims to challenge China’s long-standing dominance of rare-earth extraction and processing.

Market analysts note that while the mine remains several years from production, the decision to start pre-construction in this window reflects mounting urgency among democracies to build resilient, non-Chinese supply chains for key technologies.

For Australia, the Parkes initiative aligns with its broader ambition to become a reliable supplier of critical minerals for global clean-energy and defence technologies.

By deploying private capital alongside government-backed frameworks, the project exemplifies how middle powers are mobilising industry to win strategic advantage in emerging technology frontiers.

The challenge ahead will be transitioning from investment and financing to actual construction, production and downstream processing.

With output targeted for 2028, Sunrise and its backers must deliver tangible milestones to maintain momentum in a highly competitive and politicised sector.

• The first shipments of scandium are anticipated to serve aerospace and hydrogen markets.

• Analysts caution that production cost pressures and the complexity of downstream processing remain material risks.

• The broader geopolitical context—particularly China’s dominance in rare-earths and western allies’ drive to reduce reliance—underpins the urgency of the project.

For now, the Parkes venture stands as a landmark in Australia’s critical-minerals strategy, signalling that private-sector leadership and large-scale financing are converging to reshape global supply-chain dynamics.