Latest news with #Minerals
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
EXCLUSIVE-Rio Tinto weighs sale of titanium business, sources say
Rio Tinto is considering a possible sale of its titanium unit due to weak prices and low returns, three sources said, just as incoming CEO Simon Trott will weigh up a restructuring of the world's second-largest miner when he takes over next month. Titanium, used to make paints, cosmetics and food colouring, is also a vital ingredient in jet engine parts, missile casings, rocket components, submarines and naval vessels because of its strength, corrosion resistance and lightweight properties. China, the world's biggest producer and consumer of titanium dioxide, has expanded its production to capture over half the global market over the past decade, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey. China wields significant pricing power, which has knock-on effects for Western miners, including on margins. Against this backdrop, Rio Tinto has been evaluating whether the titanium business still has a place in its portfolio. How to exit it could be one of Trott's first decisions, the three sources familiar with matter said. Rio Tinto declined to comment. Rio would not be the first to exit titanium. Bowing to investor pressure, DuPont in 2013 said it would spin off its own titanium dioxide business. In the company's portfolio, titanium falls under the Minerals business, headed by Sinead Kaufman. This division also includes borates, used in cleaning products, as well as the Iron Ore Company of Canada, diamonds, and the Jadar lithium project in Serbia. The Minerals division reported an underlying EBITDA of $1.1 billion in 2024, 24% lower than in 2023, the company's financial report shows. Iron and titanium operations in South Africa and Canada accounted for more than half. Trott, who takes over as the company's CEO on August 25, has headed the iron ore division since 2021. There is an acknowledgement at the company that internal costs, such as staffing, are excessive, sources have told Reuters, so cost-cutting is expected. "There's going to be a middle management clean out," said one of the sources, who was not authorised to speak publicly. Part of Trott's pitch and vision for Rio includes a focus on streamlining the structure of the company's core businesses iron ore, copper, lithium and aluminium, the sources said. Australia and possibly Canada's iron ore operations, and the upcoming Simandou project in Guinea are likely to be grouped together, as well as the recently acquired U.S. lithium company Arcadium and its other lithium projects and investments, they added. Rio is scheduled to release its half-year results on July 30.
Indian Express
10-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Critical mineral clubs can help India secure and diversify supply chains
On July 3, the foreign ministers of the Quad countries — India, Japan, Australia and the US — announced the launch of the Critical Minerals Initiative for collaboratively 'securing and diversifying' supply chains. These minilateral groupings or 'clubs' form a key part of India's minerals diplomacy. We analyse why India engages in mineral clubs and how to ensure that these engagements are strategic. A recent global crisis in rare earth magnets after Beijing's imposition of export controls has shown that India's green industries face significant strategic and economic risks due to heavy dependence on China. Essential enablers of India's green transition, critical minerals are vital for manufacturing technologies such as electric vehicles, solar panels, batteries, and semiconductors. With unexplored domestic reserves and a late start in the global race, India has recently signed a flurry of bilateral minerals partnerships. Agreements with resource-rich countries such as Argentina and Zambia aim to facilitate exploration and mining by the Indian government and firms overseas. However, Indian companies often lack advanced extraction technology and sufficient financial capital to commercialise domestic mining as well as operate competitively in foreign markets. Moreover, their hesitancy about investing abroad in politically unstable jurisdictions highlights the urgent need for de-risking mechanisms and concessional finance to support overseas ventures. Meanwhile, India's partnerships with countries like the UAE, the US and the UK focus primarily on joint ventures for mineral processing and recycling. Yet, without assured and stable supplies of critical minerals, such processing hubs risk becoming economically unviable, raising the possibility of stranded assets. These agreements must, therefore, be backed by long-term arrangements and embedded in broader supply-chain strategies to ensure their sustainability. Minilaterals, or 'clubs', offer a unique solution where India and partner countries coordinate and co-develop projects. These small groupings of like-minded partners allow for joint technical, financial, and diplomatic resources to support innovation across the minerals value chain. They overcome financial constraints for Indian ventures by tapping into a broader pool of capital, blended finance mechanisms and export credit agencies. Indian companies can also leverage advanced technological expertise from countries such as Australia and Japan regarding exploration, mining and processing. The Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), of which India is part, offers ready-made structures for co-financing and strategic project selection. Clubs allow India to ensure economic security, diversify supply chains, forge resilient partnerships, and secure its place in the emerging clean-tech order. Yet, India needs to be strategic when engaging in such groupings, to understand how it can balance international partnerships without limiting its national interests and domestic priorities. There is a risk that India will be labelled a destination for storage, transit and processing, while higher value-addition activities such as refining and manufacturing of components could be situated in developed countries. India, once again, risks becoming a demand centre and market for finished goods. There are discussions around shared scientific advancements and R&D in these 'minerals clubs'. However, as seen in the case of vaccines and clean technology, developed countries are hesitant to enable technology transfer and share intellectual property rights to the Global South. India must ensure that it prioritises domestic capacity building and scientific innovation by negotiating and including clauses for investment in R&D and academic exchanges. Further, commercialisation and scaling up of existing ventures in refining, recycling and clean-tech manufacturing — batteries, EVs, advanced materials — must be integrated into a multi-pronged approach along the entire value chain. The agreements also encourage 'friendly stockpiling of reserves', where member countries share resources. However, as seen with the rise of protectionist leaders such as Donald Trump, a change in administration can alter global trade dynamics, with amended trade rules including increased tariffs and quality controls. India should ensure that there are robust protection mechanisms to prevent such disruptions in resource-sharing without imposed conditionalities or restrictions, pushing for clear terms of access, transparent governance, and reciprocal obligations. India's ambitions under 'Make in India' and 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' seek to make the country self-reliant on critical minerals and green technologies, while creating incentives for exports-based minerals industries. However, increasingly, this requires compliance with global environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. Through participation in these clubs, India can influence discourse around ESG standards, presenting the Global South perspective as opposed to unilateral imposition from Western countries. Membership also encourages India to take a more structured approach to its own domestic ESG practices, aligning industry with partner countries. While improving India's ESG standards may see a period of growing pains, in the long term, it will help make domestic manufacturing competitive. Finally, India's historical ties and growing influence with Africa and Southeast Asia are a key reason for Western countries to engage with it for the extraction of minerals. Indian stakeholders have a better grasp on the local business contexts, relying on their extensive diaspora networks. India can champion the concerns of Global South countries, calling for inclusive growth and developmental sovereignty. India should leverage its role as a bridge between the Global North and South, to position itself as a credible economic and developmental partner for mutual benefit. As India seeks to become a global green power, it must remain true to its development ethos while engaging strategically to create equitable global value chains, without becoming extractive or overly reliant on great power blocs. Sinh is a researcher on India's resource diplomacy and Ramamurthi is a climate and energy expert. Views are personal
Hindustan Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Quad launches new critical minerals initiative during Washington Summit
Washington DC: The four-nation Quad grouping announced a new Critical Minerals Initiative during a meeting of their Foreign Ministers in Washington on Tuesday. This comes just after China - which dominates the processing and supply of key critical minerals - imposed restrictions on the export of seven rare earth metals in April 2025. Rare earths are a subset of critical minerals, which are elements and substances that are crucial to national and economic security given their importance in manufacturing and defence sectors. External affairs minister S Jaishankar meets foreign minister of Australia, Penny Wong, on the sidelines of the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting, in Washington DC on Wednesday. (@DrSJaishankar X) 'We are deeply concerned about the abrupt constriction and future reliability of key supply chains, specifically for critical minerals. This includes the use of non-market policies and practices for critical minerals, certain derivative products, and mineral processing technology,' the Quad Foreign Ministers said in a joint statement. Beijing's restrictions were imposed in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States. These restrictions were expected to cause serious disruption to America's defence and automotives sectors, which rely heavily on China's supply. 'We underscore the importance of diversified and reliable global supply chains. Reliance on any one country for processing and refining critical minerals and derivative goods production exposes our industries to economic coercion, price manipulation, and supply chain disruptions, which further harms our economic and national security,' said the Quad Foreign Ministers in their joint statement. 'We are launching today the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, an ambitious expansion of our partnership to strengthen economic security and collective resilience by collaborating to secure and diversify critical minerals supply chains,' they added. There have been efforts to tackle the critical minerals challenge in the past. In February 2025, India and the United States launched the Strategic Mineral Recovery Initiative, which aims to recover and process critical minerals like lithium, cobalt and rare earths from heavy industries like coal mining. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to America earlier this year, the two countries agreed to push research, development and investment across the entire critical minerals value chain. Washington and New Delhi are also key members of the Minerals Security Partnership, a multinational initiative launched in 2022 to develop new critical minerals supply chains amid concerns of China's dominance in this sector. 14 nations - including Australia, Canada, France and Germany - and the European Union are part of the MSP. The grouping has established a Finance Network to channel funding from national development finance institutions toward key critical minerals projects.
The Market Online
27-06-2025
- Business
- The Market Online
AI Strikes Gold: How Technology Is Reshaping the Future of Mineral Exploration
Coreena Robertson, Expert Exchange Web Summit Vancouver 2025 It wasn't just software and startups making waves at Web Summit Vancouver. For the first time, The New Energy Track at the summit hosted its own stage in one of the world's most influential tech gatherings—with AI emerging as a powerful force reshaping how we discover the critical minerals that power the modern world. In Vancouver for the first time, the conference hosted over 15,000 people from 117 counties. Among the speakers leading this charge was Steve de Jong, CEO of VRIFY an AI-assisted mineral discovery platform. During his session titled 'Striking Gold in the Global Minerals Race' , de Jong emphasized that AI isn't just a buzzword—it's a game-changing tool in the race to secure the world's critical mineral supply. 'There's so much data that sits out there today,' de Jong said. 'There's a whole bunch of discoveries waiting to be made just sitting within that data… I think you're going to see an entire wave of AI discoveries in the very near future.' Steve de Jong, CEO VRIFY Mining Meets the Modern Age VRIFY is tackling a central challenge in the mining industry: mineral discovery is time-consuming, expensive, and often inefficient. Traditional exploration methods can take over a decade to result in a working mine. But AI is drastically accelerating that process. 'From discovery to building a mine, you'll often hear 15 years. We focus on making the discovery part as efficient as possible,' said de Jong. 'We want to get to a decision point quickly—either this isn't big enough or yes, it is.' Steve de Jong, CEO VRIFY By layering massive, complex datasets—from geochemistry to satellite imagery to historic drill records—AI can detect hidden correlations that the human brain simply can't compute. 'The human brain can process maybe four or five layers of data. AI can look at 52 layers—and millions of data points—and find the patterns that correlate with something like copper or gold,' he explained. The Myth of 'All the Easy Stuff Is Found' One of the most disruptive ideas de Jong presented was that many high-value mineral deposits may already be discovered—but hidden in plain sight. 'You often hear, 'All the easy stuff has been found.' We just fundamentally disagree,' said de Jong. 'Until very recently, we've never had the tools to squeeze every little bit of insight out of all the data that's been collected. That's changed now with AI.' He cited a powerful example from his time leading Integra Gold, where a massive gold deposit was found just two kilometers from two historic mines—missed for decades because it was hidden under a swamp. 'It turned out to be bigger than either of the two mines next to it. But because all the infrastructure was already there, the environmental impact and development timeline was minimal,' said de Jong. A Critical Tool in the Critical Minerals Race As countries scramble to secure domestic sources of lithium, copper, antimony, and other essential materials, AI-driven exploration is becoming not just a competitive advantage, but a geopolitical necessity. 'Every country in the world is waking up to the fact that they need to supply their own long-term critical mineral supply,' de Jong explained. 'Some of these elements—like antimony—were previously overlooked, but they're essential for things like batteries and defense.' He shared that VRIFY recently worked on a European project where re-analyzing existing data for antimony—a critical mineral often sourced from China—revealed a previously untapped opportunity. 'By literally changing one input in the AI model, we went from looking at gold to uncovering a whole new antimony potential. It's that simple—and that powerful.' A Tool for Investors, Not Just Geologists Beyond mining companies, investors are beginning to embrace AI as a due diligence tool. 'I'm not a geologist. And for a lot of investors, it's hard to keep up with the technical language,' de Jong admitted. 'But AI helps level the playing field. Think of it like an audit of a project's mineral potential.' He revealed that a mining investment fund recently enlisted Verrifi to analyze a prospective project before committing capital—an example of how AI is informing not only discovery but also decision-making. 'It's not about replacing the geology team,' de Jong clarified. 'It's about giving them more insight—and giving investors the confidence that every data point has been considered.' A New Era for Exploration With AI rapidly maturing and tools like Verrifi showing real-world impact, de Jong is optimistic that the mineral exploration sector is entering a transformative new phase. 'You can't look at today's AI with yesterday's eyes. This isn't the same tech from three years ago,' he said. 'I think we're in a new era of exploration—one that's more efficient, more sustainable, and more accessible.' Steve de Jong, VRIFY Everything we touch, everything we use—it all comes from the ground. And now, we finally have the tools to understand that better.' About the Author: This article was produced for the Expert Exchange following Web Summit Vancouver 2025. Coreena Robertson conducted the in-studio interview with Steve de Jong. Join the discussion: Check out the rest of Stockhouse's stock forums and message boards. The material provided in this article is for information only and should not be treated as investment advice. For full disclaimer information, please click here.
Hans India
18-06-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Union Ministers attend meet on boosting rare earths supply chains
Hyderabad: Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy announced on Tuesday that an inter ministerial meeting focusing on Rare Earth and Critical Minerals has taken place. The meeting was attended by Union Minister for Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy, along with officials representing the Ministries of Atomic Energy, Steel, Heavy Industries, and Commerce. Reddy shared this update on his social media account X, stating that 'the meeting deliberated on a wide range of aspects related to securing the supply chains of Rare Earth and Critical Minerals, which are vital for the electronics industry, energy, and national security.' Discussions at the meeting particularly focused on strengthening the entire value chain, from mining and refining through to end use. Sharing this information with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Reddy highlighted that the government has implemented the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) and is adopting a 'whole of government' approach to achieve India's self reliance in these crucial minerals.
