The Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) recently held a principals’ meeting in London to discuss responsible investment in critical minerals, according to a joint statement. The meeting aimed to strengthen collaboration between like-minded partners, the MSP itself, and more.
The MSP partners have confirmed their commitment to advancing various projects in mining, minerals processing, and recycling, focusing on minerals such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, and rare earth elements (REEs).
Members include Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union (represented by the European Commission).
They identified 17 projects with a high potential to contribute to responsible critical mineral supply chains in established and emerging clean energy economies during the London Metal Exchange (LME) Week gathering.
Mineral-producing countries like Brazil, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, South Africa, and Zambia were also in attendance at the meeting, co-chaired by UK Industry Minister Nusrat Ghani and US Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Jose Fernandez.
“By 2040, the world will need four times more critical minerals than it does today,” said Ghani. “There’s a global rush towards securing these, so it is vital we secure them… as we seek to boost investment in critical minerals and secure our supply chains for the long term.”
With deficits looming for necessary minerals in green energy technology manufacturing, developed economies are looking to diversify away from China by establishing partnerships with mineral-rich countries.
Of the selected projects, 11 are in upstream mining and mineral extraction, four are in midstream minerals processing, and two are in recycling and recovery. Seven of the projects focused primarily on REEs, three on graphite, two on nickel, two on cobalt, and one each on lithium, cobalt, and manganese. Geographically, seven projects are in Africa, five in the Americas, three in Europe, and two in the Asia-Pacific region.
The MSP was first launched last year in Toronto, with the aim to ensure “critical minerals are produced, processed, and recycled in a manner that supports countries in realizing the full economic development potential of their mineral resources.” The partners plan to continue assessing investment opportunities to diversify and develop related infrastructure going forward.
Fernandez commented, “We have to work together to ensure that wherever there is new development of critical mineral projects, there is also fairness: respect for communities and host governments, local value addition and economic development and environmental protection.”
