Australia's federal mineral resources minister matt canavan revealed Friday that he is heading to the United States for high-level talks in the coming weeks to promote his country as a new key producer of minerals and a stable supplier of energy and resource products to the world, according to MiningWeekly.

In the United States, canavan will meet with senior government officials, as well as mining, manufacturing and energy companies. They include wilber Ross, the commerce secretary, and David bernhardt, the home secretary, to promote Australia's emerging key mining industry to help promote global trade and diversify supplies of key minerals.

Key minerals and rare-earth metals will be crucial for the high-tech industry of the future, canavan said, making rechargeable batteries, wind turbines, liquid crystal displays, solar panels, microchips and even smartphones.

Canavan sees the U.S. as a source of demand for key minerals, while Australia can provide a steady and reliable supply of many key minerals, including rare earths. Based on the energy and mining industries that have powered Australia's economic boom for more than 100 years, Australia can be a secure and stable supplier of key minerals to the world.

In September, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and U.S. President Donald trump signed an agreement to form a partnership to support investment, research and development of key minerals to diversify supplies.

Australia is a top five producer of key minerals such as antimony, manganese, rare earths, ilmenite and rutile, among which rare earths are the world's second largest, accounting for 13 percent of the world's production.

Australia is also the world's largest producer of lithium, accounting for 47 per cent of global production. Its nickel reserves in the world first, cobalt in the second place, graphite reserves are also very rich. （From Alu)