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The G7 has formally launched a Critical Minerals Resilience and Production Alliance, complete with a cooperative platform designed to coordinate emergency responses, share supply chain intelligence, and monitor markets for the raw materials that underpin modern technology. The move, formalized at the G7 Summit in Évian in June 2026, represents the bloc’s most structured attempt yet to reduce its dependence on China for minerals like graphite, rare earth elements, and scandium.
From action plan to alliance in 12 months
The roots of this alliance trace back to June 17, 2025, when the G7 unveiled its Critical Minerals Action Plan during the Leaders’ Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta. Canada, holding the G7 presidency at the time, drove the initiative forward with particular urgency.
By October 31, 2025, the first round of the Critical Minerals Production Alliance had been announced, encompassing 26 partnerships focused specifically on graphite and rare earth elements. Investment commitments tied to that initial round promised to unlock partnerships worth roughly $6.4 billion, spanning sectors critical to securing mineral supply.
In March 2026, Australia officially joined the G7 minerals alliance during a visit by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Australia isn’t a G7 member, which makes its inclusion a deliberate signal: this alliance is designed to pull in major mineral-producing nations beyond the traditional club of seven.
The June 2026 summit in Évian then formalized everything into a standing platform. That platform includes data-driven assessments of supply vulnerabilities, information-sharing protocols between member nations, emergency exercises to stress-test responses to disruptions, and strategic coordination mechanisms.
The China problem no one can ignore
Beijing dominates the processing and refining of many critical minerals, even when the raw ores are mined elsewhere. China has already demonstrated willingness to use mineral export controls as a geopolitical lever, restricting shipments of gallium, germanium, and other materials in response to trade tensions.
The G7’s alliance is explicitly designed to counter these dependencies through diversification. The emphasis on responsible sourcing practices also serves a dual purpose: it differentiates G7-aligned supply chains from those with weaker environmental and labor standards, while creating a framework that could eventually become a de facto certification standard for allied nations.
Why this matters beyond geopolitics
The $6.4 billion in partnership commitments announced in the alliance’s first round is meaningful but still modest relative to the scale of the problem. Australia is one of the world’s largest producers of lithium, cobalt, and rare earths. Bringing it formally into the G7 framework gives the alliance access to actual production capacity rather than just processing ambitions, and creates a template for potentially expanding the alliance to other mineral-rich nations in Africa and South America.
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