Critical minerals are the bedrock of the technologies that shape our modern world, serving as indispensable resources for economic stability and national security in an increasingly digital and climate-focused era. These minerals are vital across crucial sectors such as renewable energy, defence, telecommunications and mobility—areas poised to drive the next wave of national growth. Each mineral holds a unique role in facilitating energy transition and supporting strategic industries. For instance, lithium, nickel, and cobalt are the backbone of lithium-ion batteries that power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles. Rare earth elements like neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, samarium and terbium enable high-strength magnets that are crucial for wind turbines. Silicon is fundamental to solar cell production and semiconductor manufacturing, which feeds into the telecommunications and electronics sectors. In defence, minerals such as titanium, tungsten, vanadium and rare earth elements are critical for cutting-edge weaponry and advanced aerospace systems.

To effect India’s commitments to cut emissions intensity by 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve 50 per cent of its electric power from non-fossil fuel sources (PIB 2023a), clean energy technologies will be increasingly important. Critical minerals are the raw materials required for these technologies. Thus, India’s ambitions to become a self-reliant, technologically advanced nation require a secure, sustainable, and resilient supply of critical minerals. They are key to driving economic growth and leading India towards an era of innovation and energy independence.

Global trends and India’s development in the critical minerals landscape

Critical minerals are the foundation of the modern economy, yet their supply chain is highly concentrated (CEEW, IEA, UC-DAVIS and WRI 2023). China, for instance, led in the mine production of key critical minerals in 2024, including natural graphite (79 per cent), rare earth elements (69 per cent), tungsten (83 per cent) and vanadium (70 per cent). In the same year, Indonesia led in nickel mine production, accounting for a 59 per cent share, while Australia accounted for a 37 per cent share of global lithium mine production (US Geological Survey 2025).

The processing and refining of critical minerals globally are even more concentrated, amplifying global dependence on one country—China. In 2024, the nation accounted for 79 per cent of refined cobalt and 44 per cent of refined copper. China also accounted for the processing of 91 per cent of global rare earth elements, and 70 per cent of refined lithium production in the same year (Cobalt Institute 2025; US Geological Survey 2025; IEA 2025).

Nations around the world are prioritising the domestic supply security of these minerals to reduce reliance on imports, taking strong policy actions, as mentioned in Table 1 below. These strategies reflect a growing trend toward resource protectionism, where nations aim to secure critical minerals and capture more value by integrating deeper into global supply chains. We have analysed approximately 180 policies across 20 countries and found that 23 of them focus on initiating action for the processing of critical minerals. Among these, the United States, Australia, Indonesia, and Canada are leading with targeted support for domestic processing.

Table 1. Countries across the globe are focusing on building capabilities in critical minerals processing

Understanding the current status of global supply chains of critical minerals is important, especially from the perspective of geological distribution, availability of reserves, and technological expertise involved in processing. In this section, we highlight mineral-wise deposits of the select critical minerals, examining the nature of their deposits (such as primary or secondary sources), and their association with other minerals. This section also dives deep into industrial processing technologies, including mineral beneficiation to extractive metallurgy, and provides insights into global supply chains.

Cobalt

Cobalt, a silver-grey metal with a high melting point and ferromagnetic properties, is commonly used in superalloys and batteries because of its high energy density and stability.

Cobalt resource deposits

Cobalt is never found in a pure form. Naturally, it is associated with elements like copper, nickel, iron, zinc, and platinum group of elements (PGEs). The major deposits which are exploited for commercial cobalt extraction are listed in Table 2.

Table 2. Different deposits of cobalt and their locations

Source: Authors’ analysis based on Dehaine et al. 2020

Cobalt production

Due to its lower concentration (0.02–1 per cent) in mineral deposits, most cobalt is produced as a by-product of copper and nickel. According to the Cobalt Institute (2022), 60 per cent of cobalt is mined during copper mining, and 38 per cent comes from nickel mining. Cobalt recovery from its deposits requires a complex, multi-step processing route, customised according to the type of deposit being processed, and the desired product purity.

For copper-cobalt sediment-hosted deposits, typically, the processing steps involve leaching, solvent extraction, and electrowinning to yield high-purity cobalt. First, the ore is crushed, ground and concentrated through froth flotation, then roasted to convert sulphides to oxides, which are then leached with sulphuric acid. After purification, cobalt and copper are separated through solvent extraction and cobalt is precipitated as cobalt hydroxide, which is further refined for the production of battery-grade cobalt compounds (Dai et al. 2018).

During refining, cobalt hydroxide undergoes leaching, impurity removal and crystallisation to produce battery grade cobalt sulphate or cobalt oxide, as shown in Figure 4. Electrowinning from cobalt sulphate completes the process, yielding metal of over 99 per cent purity, essential for battery materials (Crundwell et al. 2011).

Cobalt production from nickel-cobalt laterite deposits is achieved through high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL). In this hydrometallurgical process, the pre-concentrated limonite ore is leached with sulphuric acid in an autoclave under high pressure and temperature, achieving 95 per cent cobalt recovery in the leach liquor. The solution is purified, and cobalt is separated by treating it with hydrogen sulphide, forming a mixed nickel-cobalt sulphide precipitate. This precipitate is further acid leached; cobalt and nickel are separated via solvent extraction, and cobalt is electrowon to achieve over 99.95 per cent purity. Alternatively, purified cobalt may be processed into powder or briquettes, as shown in Figure 5.

In the case of cobalt production from nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide deposits, the concentrate is smelted, producing a nickel-cobalt matte, further refined by acid leaching in the presence of oxygen. Solvent extraction is used to separate nickel, leaving a cobalt-rich solution. Finally, cobalt is either electrowon to produce cobalt metal or treated to produce cobalt powder, yielding an overall cobalt recovery rate of approximately 40 per cent (Dehaine et al. 2020).

Global supply chain of cobalt

Cobalt’s supply chain is concentrated in a few countries. As per US Geological Survey estimates, the mine production of cobalt was estimated to be 290 kt in 2024, with D. R. Congo being the leading producer, contributing 76 per cent. Indonesia was the secondlargest producer, and together, these two countries accounted for over 86 per cent of the global cobalt mine production (US Geological Survey 2025). The total production of refined cobalt was nearly 224 kt in 2024, with China being the leading producer of refined cobalt, accounting for 79 per cent (Cobalt Institute 2025). However, China’s cobalt reserves account for only 1.88 per cent of the global figure, and the nation is dependent on imports of more than 90 per cent of cobalt raw materials (Huang et al. 2024)

Copper

Copper is a reddish-brown metal known for its ductility, excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, and corrosion resistance. It is the third-most-used industrial material after steel and aluminium, mainly used in various construction and electrical applications.

Copper resource deposits

Copper occurs naturally in the earth’s crust in various deposits, and approximately 90 per cent of the copper ores are found in sulphide form (Pietrzyk and Tora 2018). The rest are found in carbonate and oxide deposits, and rarely as pure metallic copper. Most copper is commercially produced from sulphide deposits, prominently from chalcopyrite ore. Other minerals of copper include bornite, chalcocite, azurite and malachite. In the sulphide deposits, copper remains associated with other valuable minerals, including nickel, cobalt, molybdenum and selenium, and is recovered as a by-product during copper processing (Indian Bureau of Mines 2024d).

Copper production

The copper production route varies depending on the copper deposit and its concentration. Copper production from sulphide ores primarily relies on a series of pyrometallurgical processes, accounting for 80 per cent of primary copper production. Initially, the ore undergoes comminution and beneficiation to yield a copper concentrate with a copper content of 20–30 per cent (Jena et al. 2022). The concentrate is then smelted and converted in a Pierce Smith Converter to remove iron and sulphur, forming blister copper (99 per cent copper). Finally, blister copper is refined through fire and electrorefining, yielding high-purity copper suitable for electrical use (Davenport et al. 2011).

In contrast, copper production from oxide, carbonate and chalcocite ore follows a hydrometallurgical route, and accounts for the remaining 20 per cent. After crushing and beneficiation, dilute sulphuric acid is applied to ore heaps, dissolving copper into a leach liquor, a process known as heap leaching, as shown in Figure 6. This solution (leachate), containing one to six grams of copper per litre, is purified through solvent extraction. The resulting copper-rich electrolyte undergoes electrowinning, producing high-purity copper suitable for industrial applications (Davenport et al. 2011).

Global supply chain of copper

Copper reserves are distributed globally. However, the majority of reserves are in South America and the Australian continent. According to the US Geological Survey, out of the 980 million tonnes of global copper reserves, Chile possesses the largest, accounting for 19 per cent, followed by Peru and Australia, with each nation possessing 10 per cent of copper reserves. Chile also leads the mine production of copper, accounting for 23 per cent in 2024 out of 23 million tonnes. D. R. of Congo and Peru come next, contributing 14 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively. China dominates refined copper production, accounting for 44 per cent of the global 27 million tonnes in 2024, followed by D. R. Congo and Chile, contributing 9 per cent and 7 per cent respectively (US Geological Survey 2025).

Graphite

Graphite, a stable form of carbon with a greyish-black appearance, is soft to the touch and highly conductive to heat and electricity. Because of its chemical inertness, it is used in batteries, lubricants and metallurgical operations. In Lithium-ion batteries, graphite is used in anodes, enhancing its thermal stability and efficiency, and it can constitute up to 17–20 per cent of a battery’s weight. There are two types of graphite: synthetic and natural.

Graphite resource deposits 

Natural graphite is commonly associated with metamorphic rocks, and is often found with other minerals such as quartz, calcite, and micas. Graphite is naturally produced as flaky and amorphous graphite, and artificially, as synthetic graphite. Flaky and synthetic graphite is considered suitable for battery applications, and synthetic graphite holds 80 per cent of the market share for battery anode material (IEA 2024b). The mined natural graphite contains carbon in the range of 5–80 per cent, depending on the type of deposit, and the lower-grade run-of-mine ore is processed to improve graphite grade and remove impurities. Synthetic graphite is produced from residual oils and coal tar, accounting for 66 per cent of the total graphite supply in 2021 (Natural Resources Canada 2024b).

Graphite production

Upon mining, natural graphite processing begins with the crushing and grinding of run-ofmine ore to prepare fine particles for froth flotation. In this process, kerosene is used as a collector, methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) as a frother, and sodium silicate as a depressant, producing a concentrate with up to 97 per cent graphite (Tsuji 2022). For higher purity, processes such as reverse flotation, electrostatic separation, air classification, acid or base leaching may be employed at high temperatures (about 500°C). This involves treating the concentrate with sodium hydroxide, which forms water-soluble silicates removed by leaching to yield a graphite grade above 99 per cent (Jara et al. 2019; Chelgani et al. 2016).

Synthetic graphite production involves transforming petroleum residual oil and coal tar into high-purity graphite through multiple heating stages. Residual oil from crude oil refineries undergoes coking to yield green petroleum coke, which is further heated in a rotary kiln to produce calcined petroleum coke with up to 99.5 per cent carbon. However, through this process, only a small fraction—needle coke—achieves the purity and structure needed for battery applications. Alternatively, coal tar from the coke-making process is distilled and then heated at high temperatures to form pitch coke. Both needle and pitch coke undergo graphitisation, heating to 2600–3300°C, to obtain graphite with over 99 per cent purity.

Global supply chain of graphite

China dominates the global graphite supply chain. In 2024, China was responsible for 79 per cent of graphite production out of 1.6 million tonnes, and the top-three countries - China, Madagascar and Mozambique - accounted for nearly 90 per cent of global graphite production. While the graphite reserves are somewhat more diversified, China still leads with 28 per cent of graphite reserves, followed by Brazil with 26 per cent out of a total of 290 billion tonnes. The top-five countries hold 77 per cent of global graphite reserves (US Geological Survey 2024t). For refined spherical graphite, suitable for battery anodes and produced through spherodisation of purified natural graphite, China dominates with 99 per cent of the market share, highlighting the concentration of battery grade graphite supply (IEA 2024).

Box 1. Use of graphite in solar photovoltaics

Graphite is used to manufacture monocrystalline silicon solar cells for solar photovoltaic (PV) modules. Monocrystalline silicon solar cells are produced from silicon ingots grown through the Czochralski process, where seed silicon is drawn slowly upwards from a bath of melted polysilicon by a Czochralski puller from a crucible. During this process, crucibles are heated by ‘hotzone’ to temperatures of 1,500°C (Mersen 2024). Hotzone materials are made of various kinds of graphite (ESIA 2024), such as isostatic graphite, graphite felt, hard felt, graphite, soft felt, etc. Isostatic graphite, produced by isostatic moulding, is predominantly used in hotzones due to its physical and chemical properties, such as high chemical stability, thermal conductivity, and mechanical strength (Liu et al. 2024)

Solar PV is the largest application area for isostatic graphite. With the predicted increase in global solar manufacturing capacity to around 1,300 GW by 2028 (Joshi 2024), the demand for isostatic graphite is expected to increase. While Adani Solar has announced plans for a 2 GW manufacturing capacity of monocrystalline silicon ingot (Yuen 2024), domestic demand for isostatic graphite does not exist as Czochralski pullers and their crucible manufacturing are concentrated in China (ESIA 2024).

Isostatic graphite is a crucial consumable in producing crystalline silicon ingots and wafers from polysilicon. A thousand tonnes of isostatic graphite is required per one GW of a completely integrated solar PV manufacturing supply chain, from polysilicon to module (ESIA 2024). Currently, India’s solar module manufacturing capacity is 89.8 GW (Mercom Capital Group 2024, 2025). Hence, indigenising this entire module manufacturing capacity would require 89,800 tonnes of isostatic graphite supply

Lithium

Lithium is a soft, silver-grey metal known for its reactivity, high specific heat and conductivity. Predominantly used in high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, it is also used in ceramics, glass, lubricants, air treatment, aluminium smelting and pharmaceuticals.

Lithium resource deposits

In the earth’s crust, lithium is associated with other alkali and alkaline elements, such as sodium, potassium, magnesium and aluminium. Several deposits of lithium have been identified, listed below in Table 3. However, most lithium is commercially extracted from pegmatite deposits (hard-rock deposits), which host spodumene and lepidolite minerals. Spodumene, a lithium aluminium silicate mineral, is currently the main mineral in lithium production. In 2023, hard rock contributed approximately 63 per cent of the global lithium supply (IEA 2024a). Brines are chloride salt lakes formed underground, containing 200 to 2,000 parts per million (ppm) of lithium and other elements such as potassium, sodium, boron and magnesium. Lithium clay deposits are another potential lithium source, forming 7 per cent of global lithium resources, and processes are being developed across the globe to recover lithium (Zhao, Wang and Cheng 2023a).

Table 3. Different deposits of lithium and their locations

Source: Authors’ analysis based on Marcinov et al. 2023, and Zhao, Wang and Cheng 2023

Lithium production

Lithium production from spodumene begins with comminution, followed by beneficiation to obtain a concentrate with 6–7 per cent lithium oxide (SGS Minerals Services 2010). The concentrate undergoes high-temperature (950–1100°C) calcination (also known as decrepitation), making it amenable to sulphuric acid leaching. After calcination, the material is acid-roasted at 250–300°C and then water-leached. The leach solution is then purified by adding lime and sodium carbonate to eliminate impurities. The purified solution evaporates, followed by sodium carbonate addition, resulting in the precipitation of lithium carbonate with over 99 per cent purity (Gao et al. 2023b).

Lithium extraction from brine involves evaporating lithium-rich brines in large ponds for 12–18 months, to concentrate lithium to 6 per cent by weight. During evaporation, impurities settle down, and the concentrated brine undergoes purification through hydrometallurgical treatment, to remove magnesium and boron, as shown in Figure 8. Finally, the lithium chloride solution is either electrolysed to produce lithium metal, or treated with sodium carbonate to precipitate lithium carbonate, achieving over 99 per cent purity for industrial applications (Cabello 2021; Tran and Luong 2015a).

Global supply chain of lithium

The global supply chain of lithium is concentrated just in a few countries, with the majority of reserves being possessed by just four countries—Chile (31 per cent), Australia (23 per cent), Argentina (13 per cent) and China (10 per cent) out of 30 million tonnes. Australia leads in hard-rock mining, accounting for 37 per cent of the 0.24 million tonnes of global lithium supply in 2024. The next two countries are Chile, which dominates in brine production, holding 20 per cent of the global lithium supply, and China, which produces both hard-rock and brine. These three countries hold 74 per cent of global lithium mine production (US Geological Survey 2025). China leads the refining of raw lithium materials, accounting for 59 per cent of the total in 2022 (LTRC 2022). It processes the lithium minerals and brines mined locally, and the imported hard-rock concentrate from Australia and Africa. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China is expected to dominate lithium refining and hold 60 per cent of refining capacity by 2030 (IEA 2024a).

Box 2. Use of lithium in energy storage technologies

Lthium-ion batteries (LIBs) are used for electric vehicles (EVs), consumer electronics and grid-scale energy storage. The market of LIBs has been growing exponentially and is expected to continue to do so. Various chemistries are available for LIBs, each with a different application: Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LCO), Lithium Manganese Oxide (LMO), Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (L-NMC), Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP), etc. Currently, India does not manufacture cathode materials, but Altmin and Himadri Chemicals have announced plans to start manufacturing cathode materials at giga-scale by 2030 (EVreporter.com 2023, 2024).

Recently, LMFP battery chemistries have been considered to replace LFP due to their higher energy density than LFP and lower price than NMC (EY 2024). According to projections based on the current scenario, the Indian market is expected to be led by NMC-622, NMC-811 and LFP chemistries, with the share of LFP slowly increasing due to the deployment of grid-scale BESS (CEEW 2023). To cater to the growing battery demand, the requirement for lithium in India will increase, and alternative chemistries, such as sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), have a long way to go before making any significant impact on the lithium demand for batteries.

Molybdenum

Molybdenum is a silver-white transition metal with the ability to enhance strength, toughness and hightemperature stability. It is mostly used as an alloying agent in stainless steel and titanium alloys.

Molybdenum resource deposits

Molybdenite (MoS2 ) is the primary ore exploited at an industrial scale for molybdenum extraction. However, two-thirds of global production comes as a by-product from porphyry copper sulphide deposits, with the remaining produced through primary molybdenite ore mining, predominantly in China. The concentration of molybdenum in its deposits, considered viable for extraction, ranges from 0.01 to 0.25 per cent (TDi Sustainability 2021; Indian Bureau of Mines 2024e).

Molybdenum production

Typically, molybdenum production from primary ore involves comminution and beneficiation via froth flotation, followed by roasting. In copper-molybdenum ores, copper is separated from molybdenum by leaching with ferric chloride. The resulting concentrate, unroasted molybdenum concentrate (UMC), typically has a molybdenite content of around 85–92 per cent and is roasted at 500–650°C in rotary or multiple-hearth kilns, to obtain technical-grade molybdic oxide (TGMO) (Lasheen et al. 2015). This marketable product is further processed based on the application requirements in steelmaking, non-steel alloys, and chemicals (TDi Sustainability 2021), as shown in Figure 9. Molybdenum is also recycled; recycled molybdenum constitutes nearly 30 per cent of the global supply of the metal (US Geological Survey 2024d). Molybdenum gets recycled during old and new steel scrap recycling; there are no separate processes for recycling it.

Global supply chain of molybdenum

Like other critical minerals, the supply chain of molybdenum is also concentrated in a few nations. In 2023, the global mine production of molybdenum was estimated to be 260 thousand tonnes, and 85 per cent of molybdenum mining was concentrated in the top-four countries—China, Peru, Chile and USA—which possess 85 per cent of global production. Total global estimated reserves are be 15 million tonnes (US Geological Survey 2025). China holds a dominant position in the molybdenum supply chain, as it accounted for 81 per cent of global ferromolybdenum production in 2021, 42 per cent of molybdenum mine production in 2024, and possesses 39 per cent of global reserves (European Commission 2023b; US Geological Survey 2025).

Nickel

Nickel is a silver-white metal with a high melting point, excellent strength, corrosion resistance and oxidation stability at elevated temperatures. Known for its ability to form alloys, nickel is mostly used in stainless steel and NMC batteries.

Nickel resource deposits

Nickel is the fifth-most-abundant element in the earth’s crust by weight, with an average concentration of 68–80 ppm. It is naturally associated with iron, copper, cobalt, magnesium, and aluminium. Commercially, it is extracted from laterite deposits and sulphide deposits. According to the International Nickel Study Group (INSG), 40 per cent of nickel resources are in sulphide deposits, and 60 per cent are in laterite deposits (Zevgolis and Daskalakis 2022; International Nickel Study Group 2021; Henckens and Worrell 2020a).

Table 4. Different deposits of nickel and their locations

Nickel production

In sulphide deposits, the nickel grade is 0.2–2 per cent, with pentlandite being the principal commercially exploited mineral. After mining, the sulphide ore is crushed, ground, and sent to the beneficiation facility to improve the nickel grade in the concentrate by subjecting the ore particles to magnetic separation, gravity separation, and froth flotation. Finally, nickel concentrate is produced with 10–26 per cent nickel content, and is processed via the pyrometallurgical route of smelting, converting and refining (Zhao, Gao and Yang 2022; Meshram et al. 2019), as shown in Figure 10.

The nickel grade in the laterite deposits is 1–1.6 per cent. The principal minerals are limonite, which has high iron content and low magnesium, and garnierite, which has high magnesium and low iron content. In contrast to the sulphide ores, nickel laterite concentrates, containing nickel in the range of 3–5 per cent, are processed via the hydrometallurgical route (Figure 11), involving processes such as leaching, counter-current decantation, solvent extraction and electrowinning (Stanković et al. 2020; Henckens and Worrell 2020b; Meshram et al. 2019b).

Global supply chain of nickel

A few countries dominate nickel reserves and production, and Asia is the leading continent in the supply chain. As per US Geological Survey, the global nickel reserves are estimated to be more than 130 million tonnes in terms of metal content in 2024. Indonesia alone holds 42 per cent of global nickel reserves. The top-three countries—the other two being Australia and Brazil—have more than 70 per cent of nickel reserves. In 2024, the global mine production of nickel was estimated to be 3.7 million tonnes, with Indonesia being the leading producer, contributing 59 per cent. The Philippines and Russia were the second- and third-largest producers, and together, these countries accounted for 74 per cent of the global nickel mine production (US Geological Survey 2025). The total production of refined nickel was more than 3.1 million tonnes, with Indonesia being the leading producer, accounting for 37 per cent. China was the second-largest producer of refined nickel, accounting for 27 per cent (British Geological Survey 2024a).

Niobium

Niobium is a lustrous grey metal known for its high melting point, low density and superconducting properties. Primarily used in High-Strength Low-Alloy (HSLA) steels for construction and automotive use, niobium enhances its strength and corrosion resistance.

Niobium resource deposits

Although niobium is found in many minerals, only two niobium-containing minerals are economically viable to extract: columbite-tantalite, which can contain up to 76 per cent niobium pentoxide (Nb2 O5 ) and pyrochlore, with up to 71 per cent Nb2 O5 . One of the largest pyrochlore deposits is in Araxá, Brazil, which is the world’s main source of niobium globally, and is operated by the Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM) (Pereira et al. 2022). Since niobium is found close to the surface, it is mined through open-pit mining methods, using heavy machinery like bulldozers and dump trucks.

Niobium production

For high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steel production, pyrochlore is processed into ferroniobium, while niobium hydroxide is produced from columbite-tantalite minerals. Ferroniobium production starts with comminution, followed by beneficiation, involving magnetic separation, gravimetric concentration and froth flotation, yielding a niobium oxide concentrate with approximately 55–60 per cent niobium. The concentrate undergoes refining in an electric arc furnace using coal or coke as reducing agents to remove impurities such as phosphorus and sulphur. The final aluminothermic reduction step requires aluminium powder, iron scrap, and refined concentrate to produce ferroniobium, which contains about 65 per cent niobium, and is formed into ingots for industrial applications (Shikika et al. 2020a; Fo et al. 1993).

For applications which require niobium pentoxide, the concentrate is subjected to an acidleaching process, initially with sulphuric acid, followed by hydrofluoric acid to dissolve residual particles, as shown in Figure 12. Solvent extraction isolates niobium ions from leach liquor, and hydrated niobium pentoxide is precipitated with ammonia. After filtration and calcination, the resulting niobium pentoxide reaches a 99.9 per cent purity, which is essential for electronics and other specialised industries. Niobium metal is produced through further refining, involving aluminothermic reduction of niobium pentoxide to yield molten niobium, which is cooled and cast into ingots. For nuclear and aerospace applications, additional purification via electron beam melting removes impurities to achieve over 99.99 per cent purity (Pereira et al. 2022).

Global supply chain of niobium

According to the US Geological Survey, Brazil dominates the niobium supply chain, holding 94 per cent of the estimated global 17 million tonnes of niobium reserves. This nation also leads the mine production of niobium, contributing 90 per cent in 2024, and 88 per cent of refined niobium in 2021. Canada is the second-largest global player in the niobium supply chain, with 9.4 per cent of global reserves, accounting for 6 per cent of mine production in 2024, and 10 per cent of refined production in 2021 (US Geological Survey 2024g; European Commission 2023c).

Platinum group of elements

The platinum group elements (PGEs)—platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), rhodium (Rh), iridium (Ir), osmium (Os) and ruthenium (Ru)—are high-melting, silver-white metals known for heat resistance and catalytic properties

Platinum group of elements resource deposits

Platinum group elements (PGEs) are rarely found in their pure elemental form, and are often associated with sulphides and arsenides in chalcopyrite, iron pyrites and pentlandite deposits. These elements are extracted commercially from chalcopyrite deposits, wherein PGE concentrations range from 5 to 15 ppm. These minerals are deep-seated, and generally mined through underground mining (Thethwayo 2018; US Geological Survey 2017).

Platinum group of elements production

The PGEs begin with comminution at the mine site, where crushing and grinding operations liberate PGE and copper particles. Following this, beneficiation involves gravity separation and froth flotation, yielding a concentrate with 60–90 per cent PGE recovery (Hughes et al. 2021). This concentrate then undergoes smelting, producing molten matte, containing iron, sulphur and base metals, which are removed in a converting process. Next, the base metals, such as copper and nickel, are removed through hydrometallurgical methods, leaving a PGErich residue, as shown in Figure 13. Finally, PGEs are recovered by subjecting the residue to pressure acid leaching, solvent extraction, and melting to reach 99.9 per cent purity, ready for industrial use (Nose and Okabe 2014; Thethwayo 2018).

The primary production of PGEs from their deposits is a lengthy process with high production costs, which results in these being expensive elements. This process has several challenges, such as huge electricity requirements for the comminution and smelting operations. The smelting operation requires high temperatures (~1,500–1,650°C), which causes premature refractory lining failure due to excessive heat and inadequate cooling mechanisms, leading to disruption in operation and loss of production. Removing unwanted elements during the purification of converter matte and producing highly pure PGEs is also a complex process, and needs technical expertise (Thethwayo 2018).

Global supply chain of PGEs

The production of PGEs is highly concentrated in South Africa at the Bushveld complex, which contains two veins of PGEs, known as Merensky and Upper Group 2 (UG2) reefs—the largest global deposits of PGEs. South Africa alone holds 78 per cent of global PGE reserves (out of 81,000 tonnes), and contributed to 71 per cent of platinum production (out of 170 tonnes) in 2024. Russia was the leading palladium producer in 2024, accounting for 39 per cent out of 190 tonnes, and holds 20 per cent of global PGE reserves. Russia and South Africa accounted for 77 per cent of palladium production in 2024 (US Geological Survey 2025).

Rare earth elements

Rare earth elements (REEs) are a collection of 17 silver-white metals, including 15 lanthanides (elements from lanthanum to lutetium), plus yttrium and scandium. Based on atomic weight, natural abundance and similarities in their chemical properties, they are divided into light REEs (LREEs) and heavy REEs (HREEs). Known for their unique properties, REEs are essential in high-tech and defence applications.

REE resource deposits

Rare earth elements are uncommon in nature in their pure form, and a limited number of deposits globally are being exploited to extract them. Bastnaesite, monazite, mixed ore containing bastnaesite, xenotime and monazite minerals and ion-adsorption clays are the mineral deposits from which REEs are extracted commercially.

• Bastnaesite, the most common rare earth mineral, is a carbonatite mineral generally associated with fluorite, dolomite, barite and quartz. The three significant global rare earth deposits are the Mountain Pass deposits in the USA; the Maoniuping, Daluxiang and Weishan deposits in China; and the Mount Weld deposit in Australia, which typically contain 3–8 per cent of rare earth oxide (REO) equivalent.
• Monazite is a phosphate mineral, mainly consisting of LREEs, such as 20–30 per cent cerium oxide, 10–40 per cent lanthanum oxide, and 4–12 per cent thorium oxide. It is obtained as a by-product of heavy mineral beach sand mining, which contains minerals like cassiterite, rutile and zircon, and is exploited in Australia, India, and Brazil.
• Mixed ore of bastnaesite and monazite contains both minerals, and is the largest global deposit of REEs, located in the Bayan Obo mine in China, wherein these minerals are recovered as a by-product of iron-ore mining.
• Ion-adsorption clays are found in China, Myanmar, and Laos, and are the only deposits processed for commercial extraction of HREEs (IEA 2024b; Cheng et al. 2024).

REE production

Rare earth element production processes vary significantly, depending on the mineral type and its associated impurities. This diversity requires different processing routes with tailored parameters to maximise efficiency and recovery. Generally, processing of a rare earth ore involves a combination of hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical techniques, wherein the REE-bearing concentrate obtained after the comminution and beneficiation step undergoes acid or alkaline treatment, yielding a solution of mixed carbonates or chlorides. Extraction of the HREEs from the ion-adsorption clays includes leaching with sodium chloride solution in acidic media, or a solution of ammonium sulphate.

This solution is subjected to multiple solvent extraction or ion exchange processes to separate the individual rare earth oxides (REOs) with a purity of more than 99 per cent. Once separated, the REOs are further reduced and refined to achieve REE purity levels exceeding 99.99 per cent, often through metallothermic reduction, fused-salt electrolysis, or zone melting (Suli et al. 2017; Navarro and Zhao 2014), as represented in Figure 14.

Global supply chain of rare earth elements

The global supply chain of REEs is concentrated in a few countries. Out of an estimated 90 million tonnes, the top five countries hold 90 per cent of global reserves, with China alone accounting for 49 per cent. China is a dominant player in REE production, contributing 69 per cent of the global figure in 2024. China, USA, and Myanmar were together responsible for 89 per cent of the 0.39 million tonnes of global rare earth mine production in the same year (US Geological Survey 2025). Regarding refined REE production, China alone accounted for 88 per cent in 2021, while Malaysia and India accounted for 7 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively (European Commission 2023d).

Box 3. Rare earth elements in wind turbines

Critical minerals in wind turbines mainly involve REEs in permanent magnets, which are used in wind turbine generators and gearboxes. Permanent magnets make it possible to have small, light, space-saving designs for the gearboxes of wind turbines (Gielen and Lyons 2022). Permanent magnets use neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr) to improve their magnetic strength, whereas dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb) improve their susceptibility to demagnetisation, especially at high temperatures (Verma et al. 2022). A typical permanent magnet for a wind turbine comprises 28.5 per cent Nd, 4.4 per cent Dy, 1 per cent boron and 66 per cent iron. Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generators (PMSGs) are highly used in offshore turbines requiring Nd and Dy, with 216 kg/MW Nd and 17 kg/MW Dy (Verma et al. 2022). Permanent magnet drive systems dominate the offshore market, whereas induction generator drive systems, which don’t employ permanent magnets, are slightly more dominant in the onshore wind sector (IRENA 2022).

Rare earth minerals are sufficiently abundant today to meet the future demand of a wind industry that only represents a fraction of their end uses. From 2023 to 2030, the demand for Chinese wind energy Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPM) may fall by 14 per cent CAGR for onshore installations, and grow by only 4 per cent for offshore installations. By 2030, China is forecast to account for only 19 per cent of wind energy REPM demand, against 64 per cent in 2023. Given the average REPM grade and Pr, Nd, Dy, and Tb content assumptions, the global non-China wind energy sector will require a cumulative 30,000 tonnes of rare earth materials by 2030 (GWEC 2023).

Assessments have been conducted to evaluate whether the current metals and minerals production capacity is sufficient in India for the short-term, considering 140 GW wind energy production by 2032, and long-term potential, considering 695.5 GW wind energy production (Verma et al. 2022). The production of REEs Nd and Dy with purity required for the application of wind turbines is currently not done in India. Hence, Indian wind turbine manufacturers are dependent on imported materials.

Silicon

Silicon is the second-most-abundant element in earth’s crust, primarily found as silicon dioxide in quartz and silica sand. Known for its hardness and metallic lustre, silicon finds diverse applications based on purity and particle size, including in electronics, high-purity quartz-based optical fibre, and solar cells.

Silicon resources, their properties and applications

In nature, silicon is commonly found scattered across the Earth’s surface as silicon dioxide (SiO2 ), also known as quartz and silica sand. Quartz is a very common mineral and is often associated with a wide variety of other minerals, including feldspars, micas, amphiboles, calcite, and zeolites. Based on the grade and particle size, silicon has many applications in different sectors. For instance, industrial sand is used in construction and cementing material, foundries, glass, filtration systems, abrasives, and as flux in metallurgical operations. Industrial cultured quartz is manufactured in autoclaves at high pressure and temperature, especially for electronic applications. The process includes natural quartz (also known as lascas) and a solution of sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate as raw material, with some additives such as deionised water and lithium salts, and used in communication equipment, computers and receivers.

High-purity quartz (HPQ) is obtained by multiple stages of physical and chemical processing of naturally occurring translucent crystalline silica and has more than 99.99 per cent SiO2 content. It is used in optic-fibre cables, crucibles, and the production of metallurgical-grade silicon, which has industrial uses, including in aluminium alloys, silicones, photovoltaic cells and ferrosilicon (US Geological Survey 2024a).

Quartz processing and production

High-purity quartz is the raw material used to produce metallurgical-grade silicon (MGS). First, quartz is enriched by washing, crushing, magnetic separation and acid etching, to raise its purity to 99.99 per cent SiO₂. Then, MGS production occurs through carbothermic reduction in a submerged-arc furnace at about 2,000°C, where quartz reacts with carbon sources like coke and charcoal. This process yields molten silicon, later refined and solidified to achieve 98.5–99.5 per cent purity, as shown in Figure 15 (Ali et al. 2018; Elghniji et al. 2020; Boussaa et al. 2018).

Figure 15. Simplified process flowsheet of silicon production

Global supply chain of silicon

Global estimates for quartz reserves and production are not available. However, quartz is widely distributed across countries such as the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, and Russia (US Geological Survey 2024b). In 2024, global silicon metal production was estimated at 4.6 million tonnes, with China dominating with a share of 84 per cent. Brazil and Norway followed, contributing 4 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively. As for ferrosilicon, production was estimated to be about 5.1 million tonnes, with China, Russia, and Brazil as the top producers, accounting for 69 per cent, 9 per cent, and 4 per cent of the global share, respectively (US Geological Survey 2025).

Box 4. Use of silicon in solar PV

Silicon-based solar photovoltaic (PV) technology had a market share of 97.5 per cent, while thin-film technologies had a market share of 2.5 per cent as of 2023 (Fraunhofer ISE 2024). This highlights the importance of silicon in the solar PV supply chain. Metallurgical grade silicon (MGS) is 98 per cent pure and needs to be purified to be used in solar PV; it is ground up and injected into a Fluidised Bed Reactor (FBR) to produce trichlorosilane gas, which is used as a feedstock for the Siemens process (Xakalashe and Tangstad 2011a). Siemens process takes place in a Siemens reactor, where current is passed through a U-shaped silicon seed in the presence of trichlorosilane gas, which undergoes Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) to form solid silicon. This results in the formation of polysilicon, which has a purity of 9N silicon (99.999999999 per cent).

Polysilicon is thus formed by breaking it down into smaller pieces, loading it up into a crucible, and melting it down to form a polysilicon bath at temperatures of 1,500°C. Monosilicon ingots are formed around a seed silicon crystal dipped into this bath and pulled slowly upwards using a Czochralski puller. This process is called the Czochralski process (ITRPV 2024). Monocrystalline silicon ingots, thus formed, are further sliced into wafers using diamond-coated wire saws, which are further processed to form solar cells, and assembled into solar modules. As it is such a cornerstone of the solar PV manufacturing process, the scaling up of the latter will lead to higher demand for silicon in the future.

Global silicon demand from solar PV was 390 kt in 2020, and is projected to be between 452 and 810 kt by 2040 (IEA 2021). Despite the abundance of raw material for silicon in the form of quartzite, due to high capital expenditure, operational expenditure, and technological knowledge required, polysilicon production does not exist in India. Solar PV module and cell manufacturers are dependent on imported wafers. While Adani Solar has announced a 2 GW ingot and wafer manufacturing capacity (Yuen 2024), it utilises imported polysilicon and has halted previously announced polysilicon manufacturing plans (Jacobo 2024).

Tin

Tin (with the chemical symbol Sn from its Latin name stannum) is a soft, silver-white metal known for its chemical inertness, formability and low melting point (232°C). These properties make it suitable for various applications, including alloys, packing materials and solders.

Tin resource deposits

In nature, about 80 per cent of tin reserves are available in placer deposits. Cassiterite is the primary mineral from which most tin is commercially extracted, while stannite is another mineral. Cassiterite theoretically contains 78.7 per cent of tin. Tin ore, on the other hand, typically contains 1 per cent tin due to associated impurities, such as iron, silicon, niobium, tantalum, zirconium, scandium and tungsten.

Tin production

Tin production involves pyrometallurgical operations that convert raw cassiterite ore into high-purity tin, which is essential for industrial applications. First, the ore undergoes pretreatment steps like magnetic separation, roasting, and acid leaching, as cassiterite often occurs in placer deposits where comminution is unnecessary (Su et al. 2017). Following pretreatment, gravity separation and flotation produce a tin concentrate with up to 60 per cent purity and a recovery rate of around 70 per cent (Angadi et al. 2015a), as shown in Figure 16. This concentrate is smelted in furnaces with solid reductants and fluxes, achieving about 99 per cent purity. Finally, the remaining impurities are removed via crystallisation or vacuum distillation, yielding tin with over 99.95 per cent purity (Dutta and Lodhari 2018).

Figure 16. Simplified process flowsheet of tin production

Global supply chain of tin

Compared to other critical minerals, tin reserves and mine production are relatively welldistributed globally, notably in Asian countries such as China, Myanmar and Indonesia. However, in downstream processing, the supply chain becomes increasingly concentrated in China. According to the US Geological Survey, China holds 24 per cent of the world’s tin reserves, followed by Australia, which has 15 per cent out of 4.2 million tonnes. In 2024, China also led global tin mine production, contributing 23 per cent out of 0.3 million tonnes, followed by Indonesia with 17 per cent (US Geological Survey 2025). Tin smelting is even more concentrated, with China alone responsible for 52 per cent of global tin smelter production, followed by Indonesia and Peru (British Geological Survey 2024b).

Titanium

Titanium is a silver-grey, lightweight metal known for its high strength-to-weight ratio and excellent corrosion resistance, even at elevated temperatures. Over 90 per cent of globally produced titanium is used as a pigment, enhancing opacity and brightness in paints and plastics.

Titanium resource deposits and global production

In nature, titanium is found to be associated with iron and vanadium. Ilmenite and rutile are the two primary minerals, and the majority of titanium is obtained from ilmenite, which typically contains 45–60 per cent titanium dioxide (TiO2 ). In contrast, rutile contains up to 95 per cent TiO2 (Zhang et al. 2011a). Both of these minerals are found in the placer deposit in beach sand, along with other heavy minerals such as zircon and monazite. Beach sand is mined through dredging, and beneficiated through an array of physical separation processes to obtain valuable minerals (Indian Bureau of Mines 2024i).

Titanium production

Ilmenite is obtained after the beach sand is beneficiated and processed further based on the application and grade requirement. The hydrometallurgical route is employed to obtain TiO2 from rutile and ilmenite. There are two methods of titanium dioxide production—the chloride process and the sulphate process—as shown in Figure 17. Globally, 60 per cent of TiO2 is produced via the chloride route, and the sulphate route is mostly used in China (Sampath et al. 2023). Natural and synthetic rutile and titanium slag are processed via a thermo-chemical route, known as Kroll’s process or Hunter process, to obtain titanium metal.

Figure 17. Simplified process flowsheet of titanium production

Global supply chain of titanium

According to the US Geological Survey, out of 510 million tonnes of global ilmenite reserves, Australia holds 35 per cent, followed by China, accounting for 22 per cent of ilmenite reserves, and 37 per cent of mine production in 2024. In midstream processing, the supply chain becomes more concentrated in China, with an installed pigment production capacity of 56 per cent, and titanium sponge production capacity of 63 per cent. In 2024, this nation accounted for 69 per cent of global titanium sponge production, followed by Japan and Russia, with shares of 17 and 6 per cent, respectively. Australia leads the rutile mine production, accounting for 44 per cent in 2024, and has the highest reserves (76 per cent) of natural rutile (US Geological Survey 2024o, 2024m).

Tungsten

Tungsten (with chemical symbol W for its old name, wolfram) is a greyish-white metal known for its electrical and thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion. Its primary applications include tungsten carbide for cutting tools, ferrotungsten for high-speed steels and superalloys, and tungsten compounds for dyes and inks.

Tungsten resource deposits

Scheelite and wolframite are the two minerals, found in skarn and porphyry deposits (Surya et al. 2023), typically containing tungsten oxide (WO3 ) in the range of 0.1–1 per cent, and primarily mined through underground mining methods for the commercial production of tungsten.

Tungsten production

The current commercial process of tungsten ore processing begins with comminution, followed by pre-concentration, with X-ray and gravitational sorting for scheelite, and optical or hand sorting for wolframite. The beneficiated scheelite concentrate, achieved via gravity separation or froth flotation, reaches up to 65 per cent WO₃. In comparison, wolframite undergoes gravity and magnetic separation to yield a concentrate with over 30 per cent WO₃ (Das et al. 2023; Yang 2018). Further processing and refining involve digestion/leaching of tungsten concentrate, purification of the obtained solution, and then crystallisation to obtain ammonium para tungstate (APT), which is the marketable product and raw material to produce tungsten carbide, compound, and metal (Shemi et al. 2018).

Figure 18. Simplified process flowsheet of tungsten production

Global supply chain of tungsten

China dominates the supply chain of tungsten. As per the US Geological Survey, global tungsten mine production was estimated at 81,000 tonnes in 2024, with China accounting for 83 per cent, followed by Vietnam and Russia with less than 4 per cent and 2 per cent contribution, respectively. Globally, tungsten reserves are estimated at 4.6 million tonnes, with 52 per cent of these reserves located in China. Other countries with substantial reserves include Australia (12 per cent) and Russia (9 per cent) (US Geological Survey 2024p).

Vanadium

Vanadium is a hard, silver-grey transition metal known for its malleability and ductility. Primarily used in the steel industry as ferrovanadium, it enhances the strength and wearresistance of steel, comprising over 90 per cent of its applications.

Vanadium resource deposits

Vanadium is found naturally in several minerals, such as patronite, vanadinite, carnotite, and roscoelite (Indian Bureau of Mines 2024g). Vanadiferous titanomagnetite deposits are exploited for most commercial vanadium production globally, and vanadium is produced both as a primary resource and a by-product. Most vanadium is obtained as a co-product or byproduct of iron and steel production, wherein vanadium is recovered from the slag generated during the smelting of magnetic iron ore. The remaining vanadium is obtained from secondary sources such as red mud from aluminium processing, and spent catalysts in petrochemical processes.

Vanadium production

Vanadiferous titanomagnetite, with more than one per cent vanadium pentoxide (V2 O5 ) content by weight, is commonly used as a primary source of vanadium. During processing, the concentrate obtained after beneficiation is salt-roasted at 800–1,000°C, commonly with sodium carbonate, making vanadium soluble for leaching (Gilligan and Nikoloski 2020). After leaching solvent extraction, vanadium from impurities is isolated. Finally, the vanadium precipitates as ammonium polyvanadate, which is calcined to produce V₂O₅. This V₂O₅ is further reduced to ferrovanadium, as shown in Figure 19 (Nasimifar and Mehrabani 2022).

Ferrovanadium is one of the marketable products. Depending on the use case, it contains 40–80 per cent vanadium, and is obtained from iron and steel slag through the pyrometallurgical route of reduction and refining. Additionally, ferrovanadium is produced by the aluminothermic reduction of vanadium pentoxide (Moskalyk and Alfantazi 2003).

Figure 19. Simplified process steps for vanadium production

Global supply chain of vanadium

According to the US Geological Survey, the global reserves of vanadium are estimated to be 18 million tonnes, mostly distributed across Australia, Russia, and China, with their respective shares of 47 per cent, 28 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively. China dominates vanadium production, contributing 70 per cent out of 100,000 tonnes of global mine production in 2024, followed by Russia and South Africa (US Geological Survey 2024q). China also leads global refined vanadium production, having contributed 59 per cent in 2019, followed by the European Union and South Africa at 9 per cent each.

Zirconium

Zirconium is a silver-grey element known for its hardness, tensile strength and heat resistance. Because of these properties, it is used in pumps, valves, and piping in the chemical industry.

Zirconium resources deposits and global production

Zirconium is found in various deposits, but is primarily extracted from two minerals: zircon and baddeleyite. Most zirconium—around 97 per cent—comes from zircon found in heavy minerals, which also contains other minerals like ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, monazite and garnet in different amounts.

Zirconium production

The heavy minerals are usually mined using dredging techniques. Then, the sand is beneficiated using screening, magnetic and electrostatic separation, and froth flotation, to extract zircon-rich sand as a by-product or co-product of rare earth and titanium minerals, typically containing 63–66 per cent zirconium oxide (Indian Bureau of Mines 2024b; ZIA 2019), as shown in Figure 20. This sand is then refined for applications in ceramics and foundries, where further crushing and chemical treatment prepare it for market use.

Zirconium is fused with sodium hydroxide to produce zircon, which is suitable for leaching. Zirconium and hafnium—similar in properties—are then separated via solvent extraction using kerosene-based extractants. Zirconium nitrate is precipitated as zirconium hydroxide, calcined to form zirconium dioxide, and purified through reduction with magnesium, followed by vacuum treatments (Xu et al. 2015; Dutta and Lodhari 2018).

Figure 20. Simplified process steps for zirconium production

Global supply chain of zirconium

The zirconium supply chain is concentrated in a few countries. Out of 70 million tonnes of zirconium reserves, 79 per cent are available in Australia, followed by South Africa, which accounts for 8 per cent. Australia also leads in producing zirconium mineral concentrates globally, accounting for 33 per cent out of 1.5 million tonnes produced in 2024, followed by South Africa and Mozambique, with a share of 20 and 11 per cent, respectively (US Geological Survey 2025).

Forward-looking government initiatives have cultivated significant momentum and optimism in India’s critical mineral landscape, starting in 2023 and following G20 negotiations in India, which actively discussed this issue in the Energy Transition Working Group. However, our analysis indicates the need for additional measures to fully capture the existing opportunity. Further targeted efforts can open up new avenues, paving the way for economic growth and new jobs, while achieving the dual aims of access to critical minerals and energy security. We have identified three priority strategic areas for industry leaders and policymakers, represented in Figure 21.

Based on these strategic priorities, we provide eight recommendations designed to address the existing gaps highlighted in the previous sections, and enhance India’s mineral processing industry’s scale, efficiency and competitiveness.

Figure 21. Strategic priorities will enable the advancement of India’s mineral processing sector

Source: Authors’ analysis

Focused R&D to adopt and develop emerging and innovative processing technologies

India must prioritise research and development into advanced, sustainable processing technologies for critical minerals. This is essential to improve domestic mineral processing capabilities and mineral recovery efficiencies.

For nickel and cobalt primary production, particularly from India’s low-grade laterite resources, hydrometallurgical methods such as HPAL should be a key area of research. The following actions are recommended:

• CSIR laboratories and technical institutes, in collaboration with industry stakeholders, could play a key role by setting up lab-scale projects and advancing to pilot projects, enhancing India’s domestic processing capabilities for nickel and cobalt to process the domestic ores, as well as imported ores and concentrate from resource-rich nations such as Russia, Australia, and DR Congo.
• This research would also be helpful in the case of platinum group metals, as pressure acid leaching offers recovery efficiencies of over 85 per cent (Huang, Li and Cheng 2007).
• Further processing and refining would also require advanced electrorefining capabilities to produce elements and compounds suitable for industry demand.

For lithium, India should prioritise developing tailored technologies from its diverse deposits, including hard-rock deposits in Chhattisgarh, clay deposits in Jammu and Kashmir, and brine blocks acquired overseas.

• Acidification methods are suitable for processing lithium clay deposits because of their higher extraction efficiency and lower cost (Zhao, Wang and Cheng 2023b), and technology should be developed and tailored for lithium extraction from the clay deposits found in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Additionally, focus on developing direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies is also essential, which would help extract lithium from the brine blocks acquired by KABIL in Argentina. Techniques such as sorption, ion exchange and membrane-based extraction minimise water and energy use, and tailored DLE technologies should be developed to process these brine deposits, focusing on enhanced lithium recovery rates while reducing environmental impact.

In the case of copper, India may explore a hydrometallurgical approach for processing its low-grade copper ores, which are already used for 20 per cent of global primary copper production from copper oxide and carbonate ore. This could significantly reduce its dependence on imported copper ore and concentrates.

• Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL), with its expertise in the roast-leach-electrowinning (RLE) method for zinc, may take the lead and could partner with R&D institutions and existing industries to develop similar processes for copper at a commercial scale.

Tapping energy efficiency of primary processing for increasing competitiveness

India must prioritise the development of energy and water technologies for the primary processing of critical minerals. Many of these processes are inherently resource-intensive because of the lower grade of target critical minerals in their ore deposits, making them economically and environmentally challenging.

For instance, processing lithium from hard rock and clay deposits, which India predominantly possesses, requires at least nine times more energy and twice as much water as brine processing, and 65 per cent of global lithium is in brine deposits (Gao et al. 2023a). This is due to processing steps, such as calcination, performed at high temperatures (~1,100°C) (Aichelin 2024).

Therefore, to make domestic lithium processing robust and profitable, it becomes critical for India to optimise these energy intensive processes, and focus on decreasing the number of intermediate processing steps, thereby reducing the overall costs, increasing energy efficiency, and reducing water use. This would also make Indian materials less emissionintensive, thus becoming a low-carbon alternative to developed countries for exports (as developed countries are devising policies with stringent emission norms to import critical raw materials).

Furthermore, processing could also be made less energy intensive by using alternative technologies to substitute conventional energy-intensive processing methods. For example:

• Synthetic graphite is predominantly processed using petroleum coke and coal tar. While this method promotes circularity by utilising petrochemical waste, it is notably energy intensive (S&P Global 2024; ANL 2015).
• Plasma-based methods offer a promising avenue to reduce energy use by increasing processing efficiency and decreasing carbon emissions. Bio-based graphite production technologies could also present a viable alternative, with a potentially lower energy profile (Weil et al. 2024).
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning could also be used to optimise mineral processing and metallurgical operations, such as crushing, grinding, separation, etc.

National research institutions, particularly CSIR laboratories and academic institutes in the mineral and metallurgy domain, should take the lead in conducting focused research and developing energy efficient technologies for the processing of critical minerals.

Harnessing secondary resources for the sustainable production of critical minerals

India must prioritise the processing of secondary resources and proper tailings management to transform the tailings and industrial waste into valuable critical mineral supplies, supporting domestic production, and reducing import dependency.

For example, cobalt can be recovered from the purification waste generated during zinc processing.

• Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) has demonstrated a lab-scale hydrometallurgical method for cobalt extraction from zinc purification cake, with steps including leaching, purification and precipitation steps (NITI Aayog 2023a; Kumar et al. 2024).
• Compared to the conventional cobalt processing routes, this method is potentially less energy intensive, as no high-temperature step is involved. With further R&D, scaling this up to a commercial level will help India source cobalt domestically while reducing waste generation.

Similarly, the recovery of vanadium from steel slag, fly ash, and bauxite residues presents a high-potential opportunity.

• The vanadium and gallium in the bauxites of Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand should be recovered during aluminium smelting plants, to reduce loss of these critical minerals and safeguard environmental pollution from mine/industry tailings.
• Mineral processing methods, such as salt-roasting and other hydrometallurgical processes, should be the focus of the research area to recover vanadium and produce vanadium pentoxide and ferrovanadium (Gutzmer et al. 2023).
• Companies such as NALCO and Vedanta may take the lead in scaling this process to industrial capacity, converting existing alumina and steel slag byproducts into valuable vanadium compounds.

Copper tailings, generated during copper-ore beneficiation, are another potential resource containing 0.05–1 per cent molybdenum, 0.05–0.1 per cent selenium, 0.1–0.2 per cent nickel and trace amounts of cobalt and platinum group elements (Weng et al. 2022).

• Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) has previously obtained nickel from copper tailings, in its nickel production facility in the Ghatsila smelter, Jharkhand, demonstrating the capability to recover nickel from tailings. However, production has not been reported for the last two decades (Indian Bureau of Mines 2024f), and could be revived through targeted technological and policy support.

Tailings obtained during REE ore processing contain thorium, and can be repurposed as feedstock for India’s nuclear energy sector with dedicated effort towards technology development, turning a costly waste challenge into an energy resource. Likewise, tungsten, which has an underdeveloped domestic recycling infrastructure, presents an opportunity for secondary processing through hydrometallurgical extraction.

The government must take initiatives and form dedicated policies to make the processing of tailings lucrative and profitable for the industry. At the same time, robust government support—financially and in legal parameters—should be arranged to create a win-win situation for the industry to utilise tailings to recover critical minerals. This could be considered an aid to a sustainable environment and low carbon emissions. Through secondary processing, India can reduce environmental impact and enhance resource efficiency.

Upgrading existing and developing new infrastructure for domestic mineral coprocessing

Strengthening infrastructure across processing facilities for minerals can bolster the efficiency of India’s mineral processing industry, reduce processing costs and maximise recovery from domestic ores. One way of making infrastructure more robust is by co-locating mineral processing plants with already established facilities in India to leverage shared infrastructure and overlapping chemical or physical separation processes.

For example, molybdenum is predominantly obtained as a by-product in copper mining operations.

• Approximately 60 per cent of molybdenum production comes from copper mines as a by-product, highlighting the synergy between these two metals in mining operations (Asian Metal 2024).
• The most common method for extracting copper and molybdenum from their ores is froth flotation. In this process, the ore is crushed and ground, followed by the addition of collectors and depressants to separate the minerals selectively.
• Therefore, integrating molybdenum production with existing domestic copper smelters could minimise capital expenses, improve recovery rates, and reduce copper loss in the process (Liu et al. 2023).

Similarly, zirconium and titanium are primarily extracted from minerals like zircon (ZrSiO₄) and ilmenite (FeTiO₃), while rare earth elements (REEs) are often found in monazite. These minerals coexist with heavy mineral sand.

• The processing of these metals often involves similar chemical treatments. For instance, zirconium and titanium can be converted to their respective chlorides (ZrCl₄ and TiCl₄) for further purification.
• The technology of REE extraction using techniques like solvent extraction, ion exchange, and metallothermic reduction can be implemented in the processing line for zirconium and titanium.
• In 2020, a project funded by the South Korean government focused on developing low-emission refining technologies that simultaneously enhance the purity of zirconium, titanium, and REEs (mining.com 2020).

Achieving efficient co-processing of critical minerals would require upgrading equipment installations in existing facilities, and developing new infrastructure. A budget of INR 500 crore has already been allocated for the development of Critical Minerals Processing Parks in India (Ministry of Mines 2025), and this presents a significant opportunity to incentivise different states to develop new processing infrastructure that could process critical minerals with similar technologies.

The NCMM also emphasised the establishment of dedicated Centres of Excellence and Processing Parks to strengthen India’s critical minerals processing capabilities. The existing institutes or a new institute may be formed, where a pilot plant could be established to scale, and beneficiation and processing technologies would be developed for different critical minerals. The focus should be on the utilisation of domestic ores with variable complexity, by modification of existing international practices. The institute may also support the establishment of beneficiation and processing plants. In the beginning, the public-private partnership model could be adopted with a heavy government subsidy, which would be slowly withdrawn.

Infrastructure development must be strategically planned, and certain states in India would definitely benefit. However, there is a requirement to promote the importance and awareness of mineral processing within different states. Based on our research, different factors such as the availability of multimodal transport networks (such as international ports, railways and highways), and reliable and affordable utilities (especially water and power), would be very important. Additionally, states such as Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka, which already have companies working in component manufacturing relying on critical minerals, will have an edge in the establishment of processing infrastructure, considering the offtake market.

Leverage international partnerships for technology indigenisation

India must strategically pursue global partnerships and technology transfer in key areas, with the objective to strengthen its mineral processing capabilities, gain access to raw materials and technologies, and enable value addition within India.

A model for such a partnership is the recent collaboration between IREL (India) Limited and Kazakhstan’s Ust-Kamenogorsk Titanium and Magnesium Plant (PIB 2024c). This Indo-Kazakh joint venture, IREUK Titanium Limited, aims to beneficiate low-grade ilmenite into high-grade titanium feedstock, creating jobs in India and boosting foreign exchange through export agreements (PIB 2024c). Such partnerships enhance raw material security, reduce import dependency and increase India’s capability in the titanium value chain.

India already has the capabilities to process monazite and produce REEs. However, monazite mainly contains LREEs and HREEs obtained chiefly from ion-adsorption clay deposits in Asian countries like China, Myanmar, and Laos. Leveraging their existing expertise in REE processing, Indian companies should focus on developing HREE processing technology and collaborate with governments and industries in these countries to extract HREEs. Indian organisations like IREL, KMML, and KABIL may lead these efforts and use their expertise to establish advanced processing facilities domestically.

Already existing international partnerships provide valuable models for such collaborations.

• A prime example is the Korea-Australia Critical Mineral Agreement 2021, based on which rare earth and tungsten projects were launched—to be mined in Australia and processed in South Korea.
• Similarly, the partnership between Lynas-Sojitz was supported by Japan’s state-run Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) during the rare earth crisis of 2009–11. Lynas mines REEs in Australia and ships them to Malaysia for processing (NBR 2022).
• Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and Russia collaborated in 2023 to explore the sourcing of coking coal from Russian mines. This joint effort was part of India’s strategy to diversify its coking coal suppliers, ensuring a reliable raw material supply for the steel industry (Reuters 2023).

More focus should be given to direct technology transfer through facilitating plant establishment in India, ensuring a raw material supply chain, and purchasing end products by the government, providing foreign investors a fair percentage of the profit. This is needed because critical minerals are not being produced in India, and the nation has established raw material deposits for the critical minerals.

Additionally, the route of Free Trade Agreements should be actively explored which can help Indian companies for better access to resources or uninterrupted access to markets.

Establish a responsive stockpiling programme for critical minerals in India

India must create and implement a strategically designed stockpiling programme for critical minerals to strengthen the domestic supply chain, and support its energy transition goals. This is important to manage risks related to supply disruptions, geopolitical tensions, and price volatility.

• In 2022, India’s Economic Survey emphasised the need to strategically create mineral reserves similar to its strategic petroleum reserves, to ensure a continuous supply of minerals (Ministry of Finance 2023).
• The NITI Aayog further emphasised the importance of stockpiling refined mineral precursors for lithium-ion battery electrodes, underpinning the use of stockpiling as a strategy for building resilience in critical battery mineral supply chains in 2023 (NITI Aayog 2023a).

India may draw valuable insights from global leaders such as Japan, South Korea, the US and China, which have a stockpiling strategy, or are in the process of implementing one.

• JOGMEC maintains coverage of 60–180 days of demand for REEs to ensure a stable supply during disruptions (IEA 2023c).
• The Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation (KOMIR) maintains a stockpile of critical minerals for resource security (Bowen 2023).
• In the United States, an inter-agency framework involving the Department of Energy, Department of Defence, and Department of State oversees the foreign stockpiling of critical minerals, including titanium, tungsten and zirconium, essential for the energy and defence sector (US Department of Energy 2022).
• China uses its stockpiling system to procure critical minerals like cobalt during fluctuations, securing a long-term supply (Bloomberg 2023).

India’s critical minerals stockpiling strategy should be phased and demand-driven, which would align with the rising demand for critical minerals, along with the growth of domestic critical minerals processing, and midstream manufacturing industries in clean energy technologies. A dedicated body under the supervision of the Ministry of Mines should be formed to identify key minerals for stockpiling based on demand projections, strategic defence requirements, supply chain vulnerabilities, price volatility, and geopolitical risks.

Additionally, ownership for stockpiles should be given to public sector undertakings (PSUs) managing specific minerals like Hindustan Copper Limited (for copper) and IREL (for REEs), as highlighted in section 4.1 of this report.

India also should keep a substantial amount of processed critical minerals specifically needed for defence and the space industry as a part of the country’s security planning. The amount to be available in the domestic market can be decided each year, depending on the situation. Secondly, a ban on the export of raw material (primary, as well as some secondary) and concentrate should be implemented immediately for all critical minerals, and these should be a part of stockpiling planning.

The stockpiling programme should also include location assessments (whether the location of stockpiles should be near ports or mines or a mix of both), market assessments, and emergency response exercises to address vulnerabilities and refine strategies (CEEW, IEA, UC-DAVIS and WRI 2023). By adopting international best practices and tailoring them to domestic needs, India can establish a robust stockpiling programme to hedge against the aforementioned risks and vulnerabilities.

Development of upskilling programmes to meet industry requirements

As India is poised to advance its critical mineral processing capabilities, building a skilled workforce is essential to meet industry needs, specifically in process development, industrial design and engineering. Launching targeted internships and apprenticeships for STEM students enrolled in relevant educational streams under the Prime Minister’s Package announced in the FY 2023–24 Union Budget would provide the upcoming workforce with essential hands-on experience (PIB 2024e). There have been several examples of such initiatives in the past.

• In 2017, Hindustan Copper Limited signed an MoU with the National Skill Development Council (NSDC) to provide training for unskilled and semi-skilled employees, and fresh skilling for youth (SCMS 2020).
• The Indian Bureau of Mines also planned a framework for operating national-level training centres at Kolkata and Udaipur in 2020.
• At the state level, there have also been various initiatives by companies such as NALCO and Hindustan Zinc Limited to train students in skills required in the mineral processing sector by partnering with the NSDC (SCMS 2020).

To enhance R&D capacity and reduce dependency on foreign expertise, India should tap into its global scientific diaspora. In addition, at least 50 Indian and Indian-origin researchers are employed by the world’s top-10 academic institutions focused on mineral mining and processing (QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited 2025). The Government of India should provide lucrative opportunities to Indian-origin researchers abroad to set up their labs in domestic research institutions. A way to do this could be by coming up with a dedicated policy on creating new critical mineral R&D clusters in both tier-1 and tier-2 cities, so that the research network is spread out across the nation rather than just in metropolises, where currently most of the prestigious research institutes exist.

A similar practice has been observed in other nations, where they have incentivised the ‘homecoming’ of researchers in strategic sectors from universities and labs abroad (Hannas et al. 2024).

The recently launched Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) 2.0 has also come up with provisions such as a Deeptech sandbox and an industrial accelerator programme, aimed at increasing the industry’s involvement in scaling up technologies at higher technology readiness levels (>6), including those in the mineral mining and processing sector.

Moreover, the One Nation One Subscription initiative by the Government of India provides open access to at least eight platforms, such as Springer and Elsevier, thereby making coveted journals in mineral mining and processing technologies and mineral economics accessible (PSA 2024).

More such initiatives would encourage R&D in mineral processing, as well as catapult academia-industry partnerships, strengthening practical skill development. Through these collective efforts, India can equip its workforce to meet the demands of the critical minerals processing industry, ensuring a ready workforce to support national self-reliance and technological progress in the critical minerals sector.

Enhancing transparency in supply chains to build a domestic critical minerals ecosystem

Transparency in the global processed mineral supply chain is crucial for attracting investment, reducing market uncertainties, and enabling fair pricing mechanisms (Harwood and Ratcliffe 2023). For India, attracting global investment, reducing mineral leakages from its ecosystem, and building trust among stakeholders is essential. India can transform its critical minerals sector into a globally competitive ecosystem by addressing challenges such as asymmetrical information regarding the movement of imported minerals in the domestic critical mineral supply chain. The quantum of usage of minerals and the scrap generated from them needs to be tracked on a real-time basis. More clarity is required on product standardisation for domestically processed minerals to make them viable for mineral trading on the London Metal Exchange.

Thus, to reduce mineral leakages from the domestic mineral supply chain, there is a need for a comprehensive transparency framework, which may include verification processes for suppliers and buyers, and real-time or periodic tracking of mineral supplies.

• On a national level, the Government of Argentina took one such initiative, creating an online national supply register, listing over 1,500 suppliers from 22 provinces to enhance the visibility and competitiveness (EITI 2024).
• Another example of such a portal is the ADB and WTO database, launched in 2024 and providing information on critical minerals trade flows. It is a compilation of tariff data and other trade policies for almost 250 critical minerals recognised globally, and their value chains (WTO 2024).

Learning from these initiatives, India can develop a dedicated portal tailored to its critical minerals landscape. The portal should integrate databases to track mineral trade, identify mineral grades in specific components, and raise awareness among different stakeholders.

Transparency in the critical minerals supply chains would also help in better policymaking, such as facilitating targeted trade laws, subsidies and incentives enabled by granular supply chain data. This will also build trust between stakeholders and investors, enhance collaboration between mining experts and investors, and increase domestic and foreign investment in the mining sector.