With the Federal Government pushing the country to be carbon-neutral by 2050, the increase in demand for different minerals could benefit a number of local economies and their property markets according to a leading economist.
Ray White Group Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee said locations such as Leonora, Greenbushes and Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, Fifield in New South Wales, Portland in Victoria and Bell Bay in Tasmania, could benefit long-term from increased demand for minerals that power green technology.
“While green energy doesn’t require coal or oil it does require a lot of other minerals,” Ms Conisbee said.
“That will mean high demand for minerals such as cobalt, copper and nickel.
“The impact on property is long-term and as yet, still hard to quantify.
“But as we have seen with iron ore in Western Australia, a rise in demand for our minerals not only benefits local economies in which the mines are located but also the wider economy.”
Ms Conisbee said for property, the direct benefit is heightened demand for housing in surrounding towns, but the wealth impacts created a wider ripple effect.
“The areas in which many green energy minerals are located does give us some idea as to the locations that might benefit,” she said.
“Most copper is produced at Olympic Dam in South Australia and Mt Isa in Queensland.
“Almost all of Australia’s lithium is located near Greenbushes, 250kms from Perth.
“Portland in Victoria produces the most aluminium in Australia. Fifield in NSW is close to one of the world’s largest deposits of high grade nickel, cobalt and scandium.
“The Central West of NSW is considered so significant by the NSW Government that they have designated it Australia’s first critical minerals hub.”
Ms Conisbee said many locations would benefit from growing demand for green energy.
“In the same way high demand for iron ore led to strong growth in mining towns in places like Port Hedland and Karratha, for areas rich in minerals required for green energy, it is likely that there will be much higher demand for housing and hence a resetting of pricing,” she said.
