India explores Congo for copper and cobalt access

Subject: Geography

Section: Economy geography

Context:

India is set to finalize a government-to-government (G2G) memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Democratic Republic of Congo for access to critical minerals, particularly copper and cobalt.
- The international mining conference is going to be held in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Details:

This collaboration aims to allow India to explore and potentially commercially extract these minerals, essential for industries like electric vehicles and renewable energy.
Congo is a leading global supplier of cobalt and a significant copper producer, enhancing the strategic importance of this partnership.
Indian officials have also highlighted similar successful agreements, such as the acquisition of lithium blocks in Argentina, indicating a continued strategy to secure critical mineral resources through partnerships and investments.
Copper use:
- Copper, a base metal, is used in power cables, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and solar panels, and it is the key material for energy transition.
Cobalt use:
- Cobalt is a key car battery-making metal (used to make lithium-ion batteries).

Lithium in Chile:

India is actively pursuing opportunities to secure lithium resources from Chile, known for being part of the Lithium Triangle along with Argentina and Bolivia, which holds the majority of the world’s lithium supply.
Lithium is critical for manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), mobile phones, and other energy storage solutions.
The Mines Ministry previously signed a non-disclosure agreement with ENAMI, a Chilean state-owned company, for information exchange and data-sharing.
A significant delegation, including representatives from the Mines and Coal ministries, CSIR Labs, Hindalco, Coal India, and private mining firms, will visit Chile to attend a mining conference and engage in government-to-government meetings, with Coal India playing a central role in these discussions.

Copper:

Copper is a good conductor of electricity and is ductile [able to be drawn out into a thin wire].
It is an important metal used by the automobile and defence industries.
Alloyed with iron and nickel to make stainless steel.
Alloyed with nickel to make ‘morel metal’.
Alloyed with aluminium to make ‘duralumin’.
When alloyed with zinc it is known as ‘brass’ and with tin as ‘bronze’.
- Iron + Nickel + Copper + Chromite +…..== Stainless Steel.
- Copper + Nickel == Morel Metal.
- Copper + Aluminium == Duralumin.
- Copper + Zinc == Brass.
- Copper + Tin == Bronze.

Copper ore is found in ancient as well as in younger rock formations and occurs as veins and as bedded deposits.
Mining for copper is costly and tedious affair because most of the copper ores contain a small percentage of the metal.
India has low-grade copper ore [less than 1% metal content] [international average 2.5%]
The major part of supply comes from the USA, Canada, Zimbabwe, Japan and Mexico.
Copper Reserves in India
46 million tonnes.
- Rajasthan (50%)
- Madhya Pradesh (24%)
- Jharkhand (19%)
- The rest 7 per cent in AP, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka etc.
Madhya Pradesh
- 1st in production [59.85 %].
- Malanjkhand copper mines of Balaghat district are the most important ones.
- Reserves of moderate size are also found in the Betul district.
Rajasthan
- 2nd in production [28%]
- Found along the Aravali range.
- Ajmer, Alwar, Bhilwara, Chittaurgarh, Dungarpur, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Pali, Sikar, Sirohi and Udaipur districts.
- Khetri-Singhana belt in Jhunjhunu district is the most important copper-producing area.
Jharkhand
- 3rd in production [11%].
- Singhbhum is the most important copper-producing district.
- Found in Hazaribagh district, Santhal Parganas and Palamu districts.

Cobalt Reserves in India:

Cobalt is a silvery-white metal that is used in a wide range of industrial applications, including the production of batteries, magnets, and alloys. It is also used in some catalysts and pigments.
Cobalt is often found in association with other metals, such as copper and nickel. It is extracted as a by-product of mining and processing these metals.
India has significant cobalt resources, with the majority of them located in the state of Odisha. However, there is currently no production of cobalt in India.
The cobalt resources in India are estimated to be around 44.91 million tonnes.
The majority of these resources are located in Odisha (Kendujhar, Jajpur), Nagaland (Tuensang), Jharkhand (Singhbhum), Rajasthan (Jhunjhunu), Madhya Pradesh (Jhabua, Hoshangabad).
Cobalt is a key component of lithium-ion batteries, which are used in electric vehicles and other renewable energy technologies.

India’s lithium reserves:

According to the Indian Mines Ministry, the government agencies made the small discovery of lithium resources at a site in Mandya, Karnataka. It is the country’s first lithium reserve.
Now, Lithium inferred resources have been found in the Reasi District of Jammu & Kashmir (UT).

Lithium Production in the World:

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), global lithium production in 2019 stood at 77,000 tonnes.
Australia, Chile, China and Argentina are the world’s top four lithium-producing countries.
Australia is by far the world’s top producer of lithium, with an output of 42,000 tonnes in 2019.

Source: TH BL