World mineral regions and the critical-minerals race

Detail

1. Why these regions matter now

• Critical minerals are minerals that a country needs for clean energy, electronics and defence, and whose supply could easily be cut. Examples are lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, rare earths, gallium and germanium.
• Batteries, electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines and solar panels need far more of these minerals than older technology did.
• Demand rises → a few countries control mining or refining → supply becomes a matter of national security.

• This contest is the "critical-minerals race".

• Most of these minerals come from open-pit mining. This means digging a huge, step-shaped pit from the surface, which is used when the ore body is large and lies near the surface.

2. Map-ready world mining regions

Mineral	Region	Location	Key sites	Rank / status
Copper	Chilean copper belt	Andes and Atacama Desert, northern Chile	Escondida, Chuquicamata (open pit)	Chile 1st; DR Congo 2nd (passed Peru in 2023); Peru 3rd
Lithium (brine)	Lithium Triangle	Where Argentina, Bolivia and Chile meet	Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia), Salar de Atacama (Chile), Hombre Muerto (Argentina)	Over half of known lithium resources
Lithium (hard rock)	Western Australia	Australia	Spodumene (hard-rock) mines	Australia is the main world source [8]
Iron ore	Pilbara	North-west Western Australia	Mount Tom Price, Mount Whaleback; ports Port Hedland, Dampier	Australia 1st producer and exporter; Brazil (Carajás) 2nd
Rare earths	Bayan Obo	Inner Mongolia, China, near Baotou	Bayan Obo mine	World's largest rare-earth deposit

Chilean copper belt

• Definition: a long strip of copper deposits along the Andes in northern Chile. It runs through the very dry Atacama Desert.
• The copper sits in porphyry deposits. These are huge bodies of low-grade ore formed by hot fluids rising from magma. Subduction of the Nazca Plate under South America brought up this magma.
• Escondida (near Antofagasta) and Chuquicamata (near Calama) are giant open-pit mines.
• Ranking: Chile is 1st. The DR Congo is 2nd, mined in its Copperbelt in Katanga, and it overtook Peru in 2023. Peru is 3rd.
• Trap: Zambia's Copperbelt borders Katanga, but Zambia is not in the top three.

Lithium Triangle

• Definition: the high Andean plateau (Altiplano–Puna) where Argentina, Bolivia and Chile meet. It holds over half of the world's known lithium resources.
• The lithium is dissolved in brine, which is very salty underground water. The brine lies under salt flats (salares: dried-up lake beds crusted with salt).
• Salar de Uyuni is in Bolivia. It is the world's largest salt flat.
• Salar de Atacama is in Chile.

• Salar del Hombre Muerto is in Argentina (Catamarca–Salta).

• How brine lithium is made:

• Brine is pumped up into shallow ponds.
• The desert sun evaporates the water over many months.

• The lithium becomes concentrated and is then turned into lithium carbonate.

• Problem: the process uses up scarce desert water. This hurts wetlands, flamingo habitats and indigenous farming and herding communities.

• Two types of supply:
• Australia mines hard-rock lithium (the mineral spodumene). It is the world's main source [8].
• Chile is the 2nd-largest producer, and it uses brine [8].

• World lithium output rose 31% in 2024 [8].

• India's stake:

• KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Ltd) is a joint-venture company set up by the Ministry of Mines. Its job is to buy critical-mineral assets abroad [2].
• On 15 January 2024, KABIL signed an agreement with CAMYEN SE, a state company of Catamarca, Argentina. The deal covers lithium exploration over 15,703 hectares [2].
• It is the first lithium exploration and mining project by an Indian government company [2].
• KABIL holds 5 brine-type lithium blocks. The first phase of exploration is complete. A feasibility study is targeted for December 2027 and production for end-2029 [3].

Pilbara iron-ore region

• Location: north-west Western Australia, roughly between 20°S and 23°S. It is an ancient, stable block of very old rock.
• The ore is banded iron formation (BIF). These are old sedimentary rocks with layers rich in iron. It is mined from huge open pits at Mount Tom Price and Mount Whaleback (near Newman).
• Heavy-haul railways carry the ore to Port Hedland and Dampier. Most of it is shipped to China's steel mills.
• Ranking: Australia is the largest producer and exporter. Brazil is 2nd, with its Carajás mine in Pará state in the Amazon region.

Bayan Obo

• Location: Inner Mongolia, northern China, about 150 km north of Baotou.
• It is the world's largest rare-earth deposit. It is mined together with iron ore.
• Rare earth elements (REEs) are the 15 lanthanides plus yttrium and scandium. They are used in strong permanent magnets (neodymium, dysprosium) for EV motors, wind turbines, missiles and phones.
• World rare-earth mine production, 2024 (REO = rare-earth-oxide equivalent):
• World total: 390,000 t [7]
• China: 270,000 t, about 69% [7]
• USA: 45,000 t, from Mountain Pass in California [7]
• Burma (Myanmar): 31,000 t [7]
• Australia, Nigeria and Thailand: about 13,000 t each [7]

• India: 2,900 t [7]

• Reserves:

• China has 44 million t [7].
• Brazil has 21 million t [7].
• India has 6.9 million t [7].
• India's rare earths come mostly from monazite in beach sands of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

3. China's dominance in critical minerals

• What the dominance means: China refines (processes into pure, usable form) most of the world's rare earths, graphite, gallium, germanium and cobalt. It does this even when the ore is mined elsewhere. For example, cobalt mined in the DR Congo is refined in China.
• Export curbs (limits on selling abroad):

Year	Minerals or technology restricted
2023	Gallium and germanium (used in chips and solar cells)
2023	Graphite (battery anodes)
2024–25	Rare-earth processing technology and magnets

• Effect: India, the USA, Japan and the EU moved to build alternative supply chains. This approach is often called "friend-shoring", meaning buying from friendly countries.
• Responses:
• Minerals Security Partnership (MSP): a US-led group of countries that pool money and projects for critical minerals. India joined in 2023.
• Quad critical minerals initiative: India, the USA, Japan and Australia working together on a secure supply.
• India's list of 30 critical minerals (2023): issued by the Ministry of Mines. It includes lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, REEs, gallium, germanium and others.
• National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM, 2025):
  • It aims at self-reliance. It seeks minerals from both domestic and foreign sources [4].
  • It covers the whole value chain: exploration, mining, beneficiation (raising ore grade), processing and recycling [4].
  • It runs from FY 2024-25 to FY 2030-31 [3].
• KABIL's overseas assets: Argentina (above). KABIL is also exploring assets in Australia and Chile [2].

• Reasi lithium find (2023): the GSI found inferred lithium resources at Salal-Haimana in Reasi district, Jammu and Kashmir. This was India's first major lithium find.

• For India's own deposits, see mineral-resources-india.

4. Shale gas

• Definition: natural gas trapped inside shale. Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock with tiny, poorly connected pores, so the gas cannot flow out on its own.
• How it is freed:
• A well is drilled down and then turned sideways (horizontal drilling) to run for kilometres through the thin shale layer.
• Hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"): water, sand and chemicals are pumped in under very high pressure. This cracks the rock.

• The sand keeps the cracks open, and gas (or "tight oil") flows up the well.

• The US shale boom:

Field	Location	Main output
Marcellus	Appalachian Basin (Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York)	Gas
Permian	West Texas and south-east New Mexico	Oil and gas
Bakken	North Dakota and Montana (into Canada)	Tight oil

• Result: the USA became the largest oil and gas producer in the world and a major LNG (liquefied natural gas: gas cooled into a liquid for shipping) exporter.

• Concerns:

• Water use: each well needs millions of litres.
• Groundwater contamination: fracking chemicals and gas can leak into aquifers.
• Induced earthquakes: small earthquakes are caused by human activity, mainly by pumping wastewater deep underground.

• Methane leaks: methane is a strong greenhouse gas.

• India:

• Potential lies in the Cambay (Gujarat), Krishna–Godavari (Andhra Pradesh), Cauvery (Tamil Nadu) and Damodar (Jharkhand–West Bengal) basins.
• A 2013 shale gas policy allowed ONGC and Oil India to explore. Output has been very small.
• The limits are water shortage, crowded land and difficult geology.
• See energy-resources-india.

5. Deep-sea mining

• Definition: taking minerals from the deep ocean floor, usually 3,000–6,000 m deep.
• Three types of seabed mineral:

Type	Where found (relief feature)	Main metals
Polymetallic nodules	Abyssal plains (flat, deep ocean floor)	Manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper
Cobalt-rich crusts	Flanks of seamounts (underwater mountains)	Cobalt, manganese, nickel, platinum, REEs
Polymetallic sulphides (PMS)	Mid-ocean ridges, around hydrothermal vents	Copper, zinc, lead, gold, silver

• Nodules are potato-sized lumps. Metals in seawater build up on them very slowly, a few mm per million years.

• Sulphides form when hot, mineral-rich water gushes out of vents at ridges and cools.

• The "Area":

• This is the seabed and subsoil beyond national jurisdiction, which means beyond any country's continental shelf.
• Under UNCLOS Part XI (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea), its resources are the "common heritage of mankind". No country can own them. Their benefits must be shared.

• The 1994 Implementation Agreement changed Part XI to make it more acceptable to industrial countries.

• International Seabed Authority (ISA):

• It was set up in 1994 and is based in Kingston, Jamaica.
• It issues exploration contracts to countries and sponsored companies.

• It has no mining code (rules for commercial extraction) yet. Some countries and scientists want a moratorium (a temporary ban) because of damage to deep-sea ecosystems.

• India's three ISA contracts: 1. Polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB). India was registered as the first "pioneer investor" in 1987. 2. Polymetallic sulphides on the Central Indian Ridge and South-West Indian Ridge. 3. Polymetallic sulphides on the Carlsberg Ridge in the north-west Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea). This 15-year contract was signed with the ISA on 15 September 2025 [5].

• With two PMS contracts, India holds the largest exploration area allocated for PMS in the international seabed [5].

• Deep Ocean Mission (DOM, 2021): run by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES). It aims to use ocean wealth in a sustainable way and to build the Blue Economy [6].

• Samudrayaan is India's first crewed deep-sea mission.
• Matsya-6000 is a self-propelled submersible. It is designed to carry 3 people to 6,000 m depth [6].

• Timeline:

  • Shallow-water trial to 500 m by early 2026 [6]
  • Deep-water tests by mid-2027 [6]
  • Scientific dives in 2027–28 [6]

• US moves outside the ISA:

• On 24 April 2025, the US President signed Executive Order 14285. It told the Commerce Department to speed up seabed mining licences in areas beyond national jurisdiction [9].
• These licences come under the US Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA), which NOAA runs [9].
• The USA has not ratified UNCLOS.
• On 21 January 2026, NOAA issued a final rule. It lets a company get an exploration licence and a commercial recovery permit together in one application [10].
• NOAA found that The Metals Company USA had filed a complete consolidated application [11].

• Critics say this undermines the "common heritage" system of the ISA.

• For abyssal plains, seamounts and ridges, see ocean-relief-temperature-salinity.

Prelims Hooks

• Escondida and Chuquicamata are open-pit copper mines in the Atacama, Chile. Copper ranking: Chile > DR Congo > Peru (DR Congo passed Peru in 2023).
• Lithium Triangle = Argentina + Bolivia + Chile.
• Salar de Uyuni is in Bolivia, Salar de Atacama is in Chile, and Hombre Muerto is in Argentina.

• Trap: Peru is not part of the Lithium Triangle.

• Australia is the top lithium producer, from hard rock. Chile is 2nd, from brine (USGS MCS 2025) [8].

• Pilbara iron ore leaves through Port Hedland and Dampier. Brazil's iron-ore giant Carajás is in Pará state.
• Bayan Obo (Inner Mongolia, near Baotou) is the largest rare-earth deposit. China mined 270,000 t of 390,000 t REO in 2024. India mined 2,900 t and holds reserves of 6.9 million t [7].
• KABIL–CAMYEN lithium agreement: Catamarca, Argentina, 15 January 2024, 15,703 ha [2].
• ISA headquarters is in Kingston, Jamaica. It was set up in 1994 under UNCLOS Part XI. The "Area" is the "common heritage of mankind".
• Matching: nodules go with abyssal plains, cobalt crusts with seamounts, and sulphides with mid-ocean ridges.
• India's Carlsberg Ridge PMS contract was signed on 15 September 2025 for 15 years. It is India's 2nd PMS contract and 3rd ISA contract overall [5].
• Shale fields: Marcellus is in Appalachia, Permian in Texas–New Mexico, and Bakken in North Dakota. Fracking uses water, sand and chemicals.

Mains Points

• Concentration risk (GS-III): mining is spread across Chile, Australia, the DR Congo and the Lithium Triangle, but refining is concentrated in China. China's 2023–25 export curbs turned minerals into a geopolitical weapon. India's response is the 30-mineral list, the NCMM, KABIL's overseas assets, the MSP and the Quad. Its gaps are weak processing capacity and long gaps between finding a deposit and producing from it (for example, Reasi).
• Environmental cost of the "green" transition:
• Brine evaporation uses up scarce water in the Atacama.
• Open pits scar the land in the Pilbara and Chile.
• Fracking brings water stress, induced earthquakes and methane leaks.
• Deep-sea mining could destroy slow-forming nodule ecosystems.

• This raises the question of sustainable mining and resource nationalism: Chile and Bolivia now keep lithium under state control.

• Global commons and governance: under UNCLOS Part XI, the seabed is the common heritage of mankind. The ISA has no mining code, the moratorium debate continues, and the USA has acted alone under DSHMRA (EO 14285, 2025). India's position is to keep strong ISA rights (three contracts) while backing rules-based seabed governance.

• Shale for India: the US shale boom changed world energy geopolitics (the USA became an LNG exporter). India's Cambay, KG, Cauvery and Damodar basins have shown little output since the 2013 policy, because of water shortage, crowded land and difficult geology.