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In a strategic move, the center has identified 30 important metals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, tin and copper, which are essential to the country’s economic development and national security.
identifying these minerals – which are part of multiple strategic value chains, including clean technologies initiatives such as zero-emission vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels; information and communication technology, including semiconductors; and advanced manufacturing inputs and materials such as defense applications, permanent magnets and ceramics – it was conducted on the basis of a report on critical minerals prepared by a panel of experts set up by the Ministry of Mines last November. The Ministry will review the list periodically.
While elements such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium are required for batteries used in electric cars or cell phones, rare earth metals are essential, in trace amounts, in the manufacture of semiconductors and advanced electronics. Most countries in the world have identified critical minerals according to their national priorities and future requirements.
In India too, some efforts have been made in the past to identify which minerals are critical to the country, including an initiative in 2011 by the Planning Commission of India (now NITI Aayog) that highlighted the need for “certain availability of mineral resources for industrial growth”. for the country”, with a clear focus on exploration and well-planned management of already discovered resources. This report analyzed 11 groups of minerals under categories such as minerals, non-metals, gemstones, minerals and strategic minerals. From 2017 to 2020, a major impetus was given to the study of the exploration and development of rare earth elements in the country.
A specific trigger for the latest exercises is India’s international commitments to reducing carbon emissions, which require the country to urgently reconsider its energy transition mineral requirements and net-zero commitments. In November 2022, the Ministry of Mines formed a seven-member committee chaired by the Joint Secretary (for Policies), Ministry of Mines to determine the list of minerals important to our country, and the committee decided to conduct a three-stage assessment of access to the list of important minerals.
critical minerals
These minerals are essential to economic development and national security, and the unavailability of these minerals or the concentration of extraction or processing in a few geographic locations could lead to “supply chain vulnerabilities and even supply disruptions.” This is true of metals such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, titanium, and rare earth elements, which are essential to the advancement of many sectors, including advanced electronics, telecommunications, transportation, and defense.
One definition in the report describes a metal as critical when the risk of supply shortages and the associated impact on the economy is (relatively) higher than other raw materials. This definition of a critical metal was first adopted in the United States and subsequent legislation resulting from the analysis, the report said. The European Union also conducted a similar exercise and classified critical minerals based on two basic conditions: supply risk and economic importance. Australia refers to critical minerals as follows: “Minerals, nonmetals and minerals that are vital to the economic well-being of the world’s major and emerging economies, yet whose supply may be at risk due to geological scarcity, geopolitical issues, trade policy or other factors.”
Three-stage process
In its three-phase assessment of the identification of important minerals for India, the panel considered, in the first phase, the strategies of various countries such as Australia, USA, Canada, UK, Japan and South Korea. According to the report, 69 elements/minerals that were considered essential by major global economies for further study were identified, adding that due importance was given to local initiatives as well.
In the second phase of the assessment, inter-ministerial consultations were conducted with different ministries to identify minerals important to their sectors. Comments and suggestions were received from the Department of Energy, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of New and Renewable Energy, Department of Fertilizers, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Medicines, NITI Aayog, etc.
The Phase III assessment was to derive an empirical formula for assessing the importance of minerals, taking into account the EU methodology which takes into account two main factors – economic importance and supply risk.
Based on this process, a total of 30 of the most important metals for India were found, of which two are important as fertilizer minerals: antimony, beryllium, bismuth, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, indium, lithium. , molybdenum, niobium, nickel, PGE, phosphorus, potash, rare earth elements, rhenium, silicon, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, zirconium, selenium and cadmium.
specialized agency
Along with this list, the committee also called for the need to establish a national institute or center of excellence on critical minerals on the lines of Australia’s CSIRO, which is the largest mineral research and development organization in Australia and one of the largest in the world. A wing could be established in the Ministry of Mines as a center of excellence for critical minerals, the report said, adding that this proposed center will periodically update the list of critical minerals for India and notify the critical minerals strategy from time to time and will carry out a range of functions to develop an effective value chain for vital minerals in the country.
To build competitive value chains in India, discovery of mineral wealth and identification of its potential areas using advanced technologies has been cited as essential. Identification of critical minerals “will help the country to plan the acquisition and preservation of these mineral assets keeping in view the long-term need of the country, thus reducing dependence on import as India is 100% dependent on import for some time. Elements”.
global practices
The United States, according to the report, adopted a two-stage screening methodology to access the list of critical minerals. The Early Warning Screener assesses the potential importance of minerals using three key indicators: supply risk, production growth, and market dynamics. This was followed by in-depth analyzes of the supply chain and inter-agency collaboration, in which a detailed analysis of the underlying factors was carried out.
In the United Kingdom, the critical importance of the British economy has been identified in terms of global supply risks and economic vulnerability to such disruption. Three indices were used to estimate production concentration, associated metal fraction, and recycling rate. The report indicated that a total of 18 minerals were identified as critical to the UK economy.
The European Commission issues a list of important ore minerals since 2011 that is updated every three years. The main parameters used to determine the importance of a metal in the EU are economic importance, in terms of end-use applications and value added to the corresponding manufacturing sectors in the EU. Supply risk is the other parameter. A total of 34 raw materials have been identified as critical feedstocks for 2023.
The first list of important minerals in Japan was compiled by the country’s Mining Industry Advisory Committee in 1984, under the supervision of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (present-day METI). In March 2020, Japan released its latest perspective on how to secure supply chains for critical minerals and materials as part of the new International Resources Strategy. The strategy emphasized the growing importance of critical minerals for electric vehicles and renewable energy generation equipment. Japan has identified a group of 31 minerals as critical to its economy.
In 2019, the Australian Government released its inaugural Critical Minerals List and associated national strategy, and a list of 24 critical minerals has been identified for the first time. Two more items have been added in the latest Mineral Mission strategy.
Local and global awareness
The Geological Survey of India, an office of the Ministry of Mines, has conducted a G3 (Somewhat Advanced) mineral exploration during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 field season in Salal-Heminah districts of Raisi district, Jammu and Kashmir, and the resource inferred is estimated at 5.9. million tons of lithium ore. The estimated value of lithium at that site will be estimated upon completion of further exploration. Based on the results of the mapping, further exploration programs will be applied to various metal commodities including lithium in the future in various parts of the country, including Jammu and Kashmir.
In addition, a joint venture company, Khanij Bidesh India Ltd., has been set up. (KABIL) with equity participation from three central public sector companies. It is tasked with identifying and acquiring offshore mineral assets of critical and strategic nature such as lithium, cobalt and others to ensure supply side security. KABIL has started doing business with various state-owned organizations in the shorthand source countries through the Ministry of External Affairs and Indian Embassies in countries like Argentina and Australia for mineral assets, including lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements.
In a new push, India was recently introduced into the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP), a US-led collaboration of 14 countries that aims to stimulate public and private investment in critical mineral supply chains globally. The inclusion of India is significant as a key component of New Delhi’s growth strategy is underpinned by an ambitious transformation of the mobility space by converting a large portion of public and private transport to electric vehicles. This, along with combined electronics manufacturing and semiconductor propulsion, underscores the need to secure supplies of critical minerals.
The proposal to include India follows a strong diplomatic push by New Delhi, given that there is great concern within sections of the Union government about the country not finding a place in the strategic partnership that also aims to reduce dependence on China for securing important matters. minerals. Concerns grew after the partnership, which was mooted in the middle of last year, was expanded earlier this year to include a new member, Italy.
India is seen as a late mover in attempts to enter the lithium value chain, coming at a time when electric vehicles are expected to be a sector ripe for disruption. The year 2023 could be an inflection point for battery technology – with many potential improvements to Li-ion technology, and alternatives to this group in various stages of commercialization.
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