The United States and India on Tuesday announced a framework agreement to secure supplies of vital minerals and rare earths, including their mining and processing.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar finalised the agreement in New Delhi.
Notably, batteries, clocks, cables, military hardware, electronics, and other technical products are made from critical minerals, which are non-fuel minerals. They have "a supply chain vulnerable to disruption" and are "essential to the economic or national security of the US," Washington said in its statement.
Among the most well-known essential minerals are nickel, cobalt, lithium, aluminum, and zinc. The US is totally dependent on imports for 12 essential minerals, and imports at least half of its requirements for 29 other minerals.
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Looking Beyond China?
Seventeen rare earth elements, including scandium, yttrium, and 15 lanthanides (metallic elements) on the periodic table, are considered critical minerals. Twelve of these are deposited in China. Because of their unique magnetic characteristics, rare earth metals are required to make permanent magnets, which are utilised in numerous medical equipment, electric car motors, industrial automation, renewable energy sources, and electronics.
A US embassy statement, issued on the rare earth pact with India, likely made an apparent reference to China. “Through this framework, the United States and India will engage in international efforts to protect sensitive supply chains from coercive market practices and reduce our collective vulnerability to single-source monopolies,” it said.
The majority of the world's supply of rare earth minerals is currently controlled by China. Around 60% of these minerals are found in China, which also processes 90% of the global supply.
Washington, particularly under President Donald Trump, has worked to diversify the US supply of these minerals in order to lessen reliance on China, as the US and other nations rely heavily on China for these minerals.
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Antimony, beryllium, bismuth, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, indium, lithium, molybdenum, niobium, nickel, platinum group elements, phosphorous, potash, rare earth elements, rhenium, silicon, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, zirconium, selenium, and cadmium were among the 30 minerals listed by the Indian government in July 2023.
India has 13.15 million tonnes of monazite, a phosphate mineral that contains rare earth oxides, one of the primary natural sources of rare earths, according to government sources. According to estimates from the Indian government, 7.23 million tonnes of rare earth oxides (REOs) are present in the nation's monazite. In contrast, China is expected to have 44 million tonnes of REOs in its reserves, which is about half of the world's known deposits, according to a US Geological Survey analysis.
Only four essential minerals are now produced in India, according to a report released this year by the US International Trade Administration (ITA): copper, graphite, phosphorus, and titanium. According to the ITA, this is because there has been little exploration and insufficient infrastructure and processing technology.
The government of India proposed a new policy action to establish "rare earth corridors" across the states of Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu in the country's national budget for the fiscal year 2026–2027, which started on April 1.
These would serve as centers for the extraction and processing of rare earth materials, research, and production of high-performance rare earth magnets for use in wind turbines, electric cars, and other cutting-edge technology.
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