India and Australia explore ties in Critical and Strategic Minerals

India and Australia explore ties in Critical and Strategic Minerals

Subject :Geography

Section :Economic Geography

Context: India’s mines minister Australia visits

What are critical and strategic minerals?

• Critical minerals, also known as “strategic minerals,” may seem somewhat self-explanatory. After all, “critical” and “strategic” definitionally mean important, and these minerals are indeed important for many high-tech appliances that power the global economy, like electric vehicles, smartphones, and wind turbines
• Strategic Minerals (also known as Critical Minerals) is a broad category that identifies various minerals and elements; the bulk of which are minor metals. A nuanced distinction between the words strategic and critical implies that critical materials have relevance for the overall interests of the state, while strategic minerals are essentially those minerals which have relevance for the defence/strategic architecture of the state.

Strategic minerals generally could be defined as those:

• that are needed to meet the military, industrial and essential civilian requirements of a state during a national emergency
• that are not found or produced in sufficient quantities to meet such needs of the state

Vital Strategic Minerals include Antimony, Molybdenum, Borates, Nickel, Chromium, Cobalt, Silver, Copper, Titanium, Diamond, Tungsten, Germanium, Vanadium, Lithium, Zinc and Rare earths