Two Day Critical Minerals Summit of Mines Ministry Started

The Ministry of Mines is organizing the "Critical Minerals Summit: Enhancing Beneficiation and Processing Capabilities" in partnership with the Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (Shakti), Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), and Indian Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD). 

This two-day summit will take place from April 29th to April 30th, 2024, at the India Habitat Centre in Lodhi Estate, New Delhi.

Critical Minerals Summit

• The Critical Minerals Summit is an essential event that aims to promote collaboration, share knowledge and drive innovation in the critical mineral beneficiation and processing industry. 
• The summit is going on in India, where the country's rapid economic growth and ambitious clean energy targets highlight the urgent need to secure a domestic supply of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) that are essential for key technologies like renewable energy systems and electric vehicles.
• The summit will bring together a diverse group of Indian and international stakeholders, including industry leaders, startups, government officials, scientists, academics, and policy experts.
• The summit will feature technical sessions on eight key minerals: Glauconite (Potash), Lithium - Rare Earth Elements (Laterite), Chromium, Platinum Group, Graphite, Tungsten associated with Graphite, Rare Earths (RE), and Vanadium associated with Graphite. These sessions will provide valuable opportunities for business-to-business collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Goal of the Critical Minerals Summit 

• Accelerate the domestic production of CRM
• To equip government and industry stakeholders with the knowledge, connections, and tools necessary to 
• To support India's economic growth and sustainability objectives

Critical minerals 

• Critical minerals, such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements, play a crucial role in the production of clean energy technologies, such as wind turbines, electricity networks and electric vehicles. 
• As the transition to clean energy is gaining momentum, the demand for these minerals is increasing rapidly.
• Compared to their fossil-fuel-based counterparts, solar PV plants, wind farms, and electric vehicles require a greater amount of critical minerals to build. In fact, building a typical electric car requires six times the mineral inputs of a conventional car. 
• Similarly, an offshore wind plant requires 13 times more mineral resources than a similarly sized gas-fired plant. Since 2010, the average amount of mineral resources needed for a new unit of power generation capacity has increased by 50% as the share of renewables in new investment has risen.
• The types of mineral resources required vary depending on the technology used. Lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and graphite are crucial to battery performance, while rare earth elements are essential for the production of permanent magnets used in wind turbines and EV motors. 
• Electricity networks also require a significant amount of aluminium and copper, with the latter being the cornerstone of all electricity-related technologies.

Rare Earth Elements (REE):

• Rare-earth elements, which are also known as rare-earth metals or lanthanides, are a group of 17 metallic elements. 
• India is home to over 7 million tonnes of Rare Earth Elements (REEs), which makes up more than 5% of the global reserves, indicating that the country has significant amounts of these elements.
• India started developing its domestic REE production in the 1950s and today is the fifth largest producer of REEs in the world. Indian Rare Earth Limited (IREL) handles the mining and processing of REEs in India.