India, UK explore green technology for recycling critical minerals

India has started negotiating with the United Kingdom (UK) to expand critical minerals collaboration under the newly-signed UK-India Technology Security Initiative (TSI).

As part of these negotiations, the British High Commissioner to India, Lindy Cameron, met officials from the Ministry of Mines last week to explore ways to enhance cooperation. This is particularly for developing economically viable and environmentally sustainable technologies for extracting and recycling critical minerals, Business Standard has learnt.

“The initial round of meetings between the two sides has been completed. The goal is to lead the critical minerals supply chain and reduce dependency on China from both sides. More meetings are scheduled in the coming months,” a government official said.

The UK-India TSI, formalised on July 24, is a strategic framework aimed at fostering collaboration across several key sectors. These include critical minerals, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum technologies, biotechnology, and advanced materials.

This collaboration with the UK represents India’s third major international partnership in the critical minerals sector.

India is already a member of the US-led Mineral Security Partnership (MSP), which seeks to secure reliable critical mineral supply chains. Additionally, India has partnered Australia under the India-Australia Critical Minerals Investment Partnership, focusing on exploration and development of critical minerals.

During the discussions, both sides focused on creating capacity-building programmes for critical mineral processing, data management, and mining finance. These could ensure that India and the UK are well prepared to manage and optimise their mineral resources.

Another key area of focus was the potential establishment of a joint Critical Minerals Recycling Centre in India. This centre would concentrate on recycling end-of-life products to extract valuable critical minerals, with an emphasis on advanced military waste recycling.

This initiative is designed to enhance the sustainability of critical mineral supply chains from exploration, mining, smelting, processing, and recycling.

Critical metals such as lithium, copper, cobalt, rare-earth and platinum group metals are increasingly in demand globally. This is because of the growing need for raw materials for low-carbon technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, magnets, and EV vehicles.

Under the UK-India TSI, both countries underscored the importance of developing a comprehensive roadmap for ongoing cooperation, which includes the formation of a UK-India “critical minerals” community. This community would bring together academics, innovators, and industry leaders from both nations to share knowledge, best practices, and technological advancements.

The collaboration also envisions a partnership between the British Geological Survey (BGS) and the Geological Survey of India (GSI), along with IREL (India) Limited.

This collaboration aims to enhance exploration methods through advanced geophysical characterisation and assessment techniques for identifying potential rare-earth element (REE) deposits.

Moreover, India and the UK are exploring opportunities for joint research and technology development in offshore mining within India’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This cooperation could lead to the co-development of technologies and the exchange of scientific expertise. It will further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries, another official added.

In June 2023, the Centre released its first list of critical minerals, identifying 24 as critical and strategic. Additionally, a new mineral concession, the Exploration Licence, has been introduced for 29 deep-seated minerals, including critical ones.

To date, the government has conducted three rounds of auctions, offering 38 blocks, of which 14 were successfully auctioned.

In the upcoming fourth round, 21 blocks of critical minerals are available for bidding.