Federal resources minister Keith Pitt awarded grants to Alpha HPA, EQ Resources and Lava Blue and Cobalt Blue.

Pitt said the accelerator initiative would help the companies at challenging points in their development and fast-track early and mid-stage projects to market and drive investment.

"Australia possesses extraordinary reserves of critical minerals crucial to many industries including medical equipment, defence, aerospace, automotive, new batteries and agritech," he said.

"This initiative will help uncover new sources of supply, moving up the value chain of critical minerals through processing and high technology manufacturing, supporting robust supply chains, and creating high-paying regional jobs for Australians while improving Australia's export resilience."

Alpha received $15.5 million to add additional capabilities to its ultra-pure aluminium chemical plant that is being built near Gladstone.

The money will be used to increase production capacity of the precursor production facility by up to 10 tonnes per annum, and to install tableting capacity to produce high-purity alumina tablets for sapphire glass growth. Alpha also wants to install a large rooftop solar array and battery storage capacity.

Alpha managing director Rimas Kairaitis said the funds would help Alpha accelerate its response to inbound demand for additional product volumes.

"In particular, the production of HPA tablets to meet the immediate demand for sapphire glass production, and rapidly establish Alpha HPA in the supply chain at commercial volumes," he said.

EQ Resources received $6 million for its Mt Carbine expansion program, which will turn mine waste into a sustainable source of tungsten.

Open pit mining will also be reactivated at the mine, at the Andrew White pit.

EQ CEO Kevin MacNeill said the project would also become a significant employer in the local economy, with employee numbers expected to exceed 100 once mining starts.

"We look forward to working with all parties as we continue to bring the historic Mt Carbine tungsten mine back into full production," he said.

Lava Blue picked up a $5.24 million grant to develop modular reprocessing technology to recover high-purity alumina, magnesium and critical minerals from vanadium mine waste in Queensland.

Cobalt Blue was awarded $15 million for its definitive feasibility study at the Broken Hill cobalt project.

Cobalt Blue chairman Rob Biancardi said the government's support would help mid-stage critical minerals projects overcome the substantial technical, regulatory and financial barriers for the establishment of greenfield projects such as the BHCP.

"This grant, in conjunction with the recent major project status award, is further recognition of the strategic importance of the BHCP in delivering supply chain security and enhanced sovereign capacity in the high-tech minerals refining space, as well as significant capital investment and employment generation in regional Australia," he said.

Pitt said the grants would support hundreds of jobs in regional areas as the critical minerals sector continued to grow as an important strand of the economy.

"They will also build on the government's announcement of a $1.25 billion loan through the Critical Minerals Facility to Australian company Iluka Resources, to develop Australia's first integrated rare earths refinery at Eneabba in Western Australia," he said.

"These announcements align with the objectives of the government's Critical Minerals strategy, which will ensure Australia captures added value from its critical minerals and strengthens its position as a trusted supplier of critical minerals to friends and allies around the world."