This invitation-only event is organized jointly by the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS), the Australian Embassy in The Hague, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the support of TNO, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture, and Innovation and the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment.
Rare earth elements are key to a number of high-tech domains, such as ICT, aerospace and automotives, as well as the crucial green energy sector. One supplier (China) currently provides 97% of global rare earths stocks. Media reports have recently highlighted the exposure of this trade to supply disruptions.
Rare earths have recently moved to the top of the EU’s list of critical raw materials as European companies have focused on supply security for their industries. Supply chain bottlenecks have the potential to slow the transition to a low-carbon economy and threaten EU efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. Rare earth industries in countries such as Australia and the United States have begun to increase production and to develop alternative rare earths supply chains.
At this high-level event, we bring together a selection of Australian and European industry leaders, key experts and decision-makers to discuss how Europe and Australia can cooperate to meet the global challenge of securing supplies of sustainably produced rare earths.
The conference will take place on Wednesday 1 December 2010 at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This conference is by invitation only. If you are interested to attend this conference, please contact info@hcss.nl.
Programme
Chairman of the day: Mr. Michel Rademaker
08:30 ENTRANCE AND SECURITY CHECK
09:00 REGISTRATION AND COFFEE
09:30 Drs. Simon Smits, Acting Director General European Cooperation
09:50 H.E. Lydia Morton, Australian Ambassador to the Netherlands
10:10 Mr Dudley Kingsnorth, CEO, Industrial Minerals Company of Australia
10:30 COFFEE BREAK
10:55 Mr Nicholas Curtis, Executive Chairman, Lynas Corporation Ltd
11.20 Prof. dr Diethard Mager, Head of Division on Mineral Resources,
German Ministry of Economics and Technology
11:40 Mr Richard Sellers, Director-General, Western Australian Government
Department of Mines and Petroleum
12:00 Panel Discussion: The rare earths challenge, investments and
possibilities for Australian-European cooperation
12:30 LUNCH
13:35 High-level representative EU-Commission
13:55 Mr Jaakko Kooroshy, Policy Analyst, The Hague Centre for Strategic
Studies (HCSS)
14:20 Mr Michel Nestour, Director, Mines and Metals, Ernst & Young
14:45 Ir. Jan Mengelers, CEO Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific
Research (TNO)
15:05 AFTERNOON TEA
15:40 Dr Bart Follink, Chief of Process Science and Engineering,
Minerals Down Under Flagship Programme, Commonwealth Scientific
and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia
16:05 Frans Beckers, Secretary to the Board of Directors at Van Gansewinkel Groep
16:30 Panel Discussion: Strategies for increasing sustainability and
supply security of strategic metals
17:00 Closing Remarks
17:10 RECEPTION
