India scrambles to find own source of rare earths

With China controlling the global supply of rare earth materials crucial for strategic electronics and futuristic clean energy projects, India now plans to put in place a strategy to secure its own supply from industrial process and geological exploration.

Besides the rare earths, the Central government also seeks to find out new and reliable sources of a dozen odd energy critical elements (ECE) that are increasingly becoming important because of their requirement in next generation technologies like solar cells, wind turbines, fuel cells and long duration batteries. The ECEs include rare earths and 12 other materials. Since none of them were a part of India’s traditional mineral exploration strategy, little is known about their geological source, if any, within India as well as their properties and the possibility of extracting them from industrial smelting.

India’s top technocrats will meet in the national capital on Wednesday to find out how the country can have a steady supply of these strategic materials, which are found in trace quantity in nature.

New and preferably indigenous sources of these materials are essential because China, the world’s largest supplier of rare earths, single-handedly controls the global trade and can play hardball on its supply citing internal reasons.

Take for example China’s plans to build a 330 gigawatt wind generator. The ambitious project will require about 59,000 tonnes of neodymium to make high-strength magnets, substantially more than its annual output.

As China supplies the world with large quantities of neodymium, Beijing will have little or none to export if it moves ahead with its wind power plans.

Indian strategy will revolve around discovering new sources of rare earths and the ECEs. Parts of Rajasthan and Purulia district of West Bengal may be scoured to locate an ore from which lithium can be extracted.

The world’s known extractable source of lithium, required for manufacturing advanced batteries, is concentrated in three South American countries namely Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. A possible Indian strategy would be to have stronger ties with Bolivia for supply of Lithium.

Efforts will be made to secure some of these rare earths and ECEs from Afghanistan, Ukraine and Mozambique with whom India has diplomatic relations. At the same time, Geological Survey of India and Atomic Minerals Directorate would be instructed to explore new reserves within the country.

Public sector companies like Nalco, Hindustan Copper and Hindustan Zinc would be asked to extract these materials coming out as a byproduct in industrial processes. National laboratories will be asked to better extraction technologies.

The meeting convened by the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council would be attended by the heads of Indian Space Research Organisation, Atomic Energy Commission, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Defence Research and Development Organisation, among others.