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Why in the News?
Recently, the United States announced the formation of a global alliance called the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP) to reduce dependency on China.- India is not a part of MSP.
Key Points:
About
Minerals Security Partnership (MSP)
- MSP is an new alliance formed by the US to secure supply chains of critical minerals.
- Partner Countries:
- Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan.
- The Republic of Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Commission.
- It comes in the backdrop of high demand for critical minerals, which are essential for clean energy and other technologies.
- Goal: To ensure that critical minerals are produced, processed, and recycled in a way which aids the capability of countries to realise the full economic development benefit of their geological resources.
- Focus: The Focus would be on the supply chains of minerals such as Cobalt, Nickel, Lithium and also the 17 “rare earth” minerals.
Rare Earth Elements (REEs):
- ‘Rare Earth Metals is a family of 17 elements in the periodic table, which involve 15 Lanthanides group elements, along with Yttrium and Scandium.
- REEs have been categorised as
- Light RE elements (LREE) and Heavy RE elements (HREE).
- Some REEs available in India includes- Lanthanum, Cerium, Neodymium, Praseodymium and Samarium.
Geopolitical Significance:
- The Minerals Security Partnership is seen as primarily focused on evolving an alternative to China, which has created a processing infrastructure in rare earth minerals and has acquired mines in Africa for elements such as Cobalt.
Critical Minerals:
- So far, there is no global definition of critical minerals, but essentially, they are mineral deposits with high economic vulnerability and possess high global supply chain risk.
- For example Beryllium, chromium, germanium, limestone, niobium, graphite, rare earth, rhenium, strontium, tantalum and zirconium.
- These minerals tend to lack substitutability and recycling processes.
- These are essential for the functioning of our economies and national security.
- Based on their individual needs and strategic considerations, different countries create their own lists.
Why are Critical Minerals essential?
- India require critical minerals to meet its climate change mitigation goals.
- Domestic mining alone is not presently enough to meet the green technology manufacturing requirements.
- Critical Minerals catalyze the change toward renewable energy resources.
Top producers of critical minerals:
- As per the International Energy Agency in its report of 2021, the major producers of critical minerals globally are Chile, Indonesia, Congo, China, Australia and South Africa.
What are the Risks To critical Mineral Supply Chains?
- When the production of critical minerals is dominated by individual countries or companies, critical mineral supply chains might be at risk, limiting availability.
- Market immaturity, social unrest, political decisions, mine accidents, natural disasters, geological scarcity, war, and pandemics are other factors which pose a risk to critical mineral supply chains.
