Metals & Minerals

The IEA warns China's rare earth export curbs could disrupt $6.5 trillion worth of global manufacturing. How vulnerable is India's fast-growing EV industry?

As competition for critical minerals intensifies, India is strengthening partnerships with resource-rich nations to secure supplies needed for its clean energy, EV and semiconductor ambitions

India and Australia have signed a series of major agreements covering uranium exports, defence, critical minerals, cyber security and trade, marking a significant upgrade in their strategic partnershi

The government has cancelled the auction of nine critical and strategic mineral blocks, citing poor investor response and lack of qualified bidders. These blocks were put on the block in the seventh round of sale. The development comes as a setback to the government's efforts to ramp up domestic exploration and production of critical minerals that are central to the country's push for energy security, clean-tech manufacturing and cutting down dependence on imports. It also reflects the challenge of drawing private investment into riskier mineral assets, where technical complexities, higher capital costs and regulatory uncertainties tend to dampen bidding interest. The government had cancelled several critical and strategic mineral block auctions in the previous rounds as well -- 11 blocks in the sixth round, five in the fifth, 11 in the fourth, three in the third, 14 in the second and 13 in the first tranche. "Since there were nil bids... the auction process for... two mineral bloc

Vedanta informed the stock exchanges that May 1, 2026, has been approved as both the effective date of its demerger and the record date to determine eligible shareholders.

In the financial year 2025-26, the department achieved a record revenue collection of ₹10,394 crore, registering a 13 percent growth rate

Two enormous sandlike dunes at an old chemical processing plant in South Africa are at the centre of an exploratory US-backed project to extract highly sought-after rare earth elements from industrial mining waste. The Phalaborwa Rare Earths Project has US support through a USD 50 million equity investment by the government's International Development Finance Corporation and is part of accelerated US efforts to reduce reliance on economic rival China for the minerals crucial for making electronic devices, robotics, defence systems, electric vehicles and other high-tech products. Countries have identified dozens of minerals, including copper, cobalt, lithium and nickel, as critical because they are essential for new technologies. The 17 rare earth elements are a subset of them. President Donald Trump has made expanding US access to critical minerals, including rare earth elements, a central policy to counter China. The Trump administration said this year it will deploy nearly USD 12

The Nifty Metal index hit a new high of 12,816 in intra-day trade on Thursday and has bounced back 18% from its previous month low of 10,819.85 touched on March 23, 2026.

Experts say unlocking bauxite resources and building downstream linkages can reduce imports, boost industrial growth, and create jobs in mineral-rich states like Odisha

India is ramping up domestic production of rare earth permanent magnets, crucial for electronics, space, aerospace, defence and electric vehicles, with the first-ever Samarium Cobalt plant becoming operational in 2023, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday. While admitting that over 80 per cent of these magnets are still imported due to limited domestic capacity, Singh, who is MoS Prime Minister's Office, highlighted significant strides made in the last 10-11 years through high prioritisation by the government. "Our present requirement of rare earth permanent magnet is 4,000 tonnes but by the time we reach 2030 and are able to produce 5,000 tonnes indigenously, our requirement would have gone up to 8,000 tonnes," Singh said. He outlined ambitious targets -- 500 tonnes per annum in the first phase, scaling to 2,000 tonnes by 2028 and 5,000 tonnes by 2030. "Prime Minister Modi himself launched it (the Samarium Cobalt plant)... We have initiated processes and we are in the .

The request for proposal seeks applicants to establish integrated Sintered NdFeB Rare Earth Permanent Magnet (REPM) units with a total capacity of 6,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA)

Following on a preliminary pact on critical minerals that Japan and India signed last year, Tokyo has expressed interest in the Rajasthan deposits and plans to send experts to the site

The government would receive 16.1 million shares in the rare earths company, along with warrants for a further 17.6 million, both priced at $17.17, the report said

He said that engagements at WEF, Davos reinforce Bharat's growth story, with sustained interest from global leaders in partnering with India across multiple sectors

China has begun clearing export licences for rare earth magnets to India, easing supply disruptions for automakers and EV makers after months of delays caused by trade curbs

Amid the rising global demand for rare earth elements, a parliamentary panel has urged the government to bolster IREL (India) with focused budgetary support to prioritise exploration and mining of the critical mineral. IREL (India), a central public sector enterprise under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), is the only company in India that is engaged in the mining of rare earth ores and refining them into rare earth oxides. The Standing Committee on Coal, Mines, and Steel, in its latest report, also asked the government to formulate strategies for their domestic availability, identification, exploration, and economic viability, aiming to bring down the country's heavy import dependence. Rare earth minerals broadly are a group of metallic elements that are difficult and expensive to extract and process because they are rarely found in high concentrations. They play a critical role in clean energy applications like wind energy turbines, hybrid car batteries, electric motors, sol

A Parliamentary Panel has flagged delays between mine auctions and operationalisation and has urged the government to explore setting up an inter-ministerial committee to monitor the post-auction progress for mineral and critical mineral projects. The panel also stressed that critical mineral projects should be given priority in necessary statutory clearances. "Although policy initiatives and simplification of exploration norms for auction of mineral blocks are in place, the Committee feels that the lengthy process of regulatory clearances, inadequate exploration, forest clearance requirement even at the exploration stage, considerable time lag between auction of mines and their operationalisation, etc., needs to be looked into," it said. The observations were made by the Standing Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel in its latest report titled "Self-Reliance in Minerals and Metals". "In view of these persistent challenges, the committee desires to explore the possibility of setting

Among other metal shares, GMDC soared 7 per cent, while NALCO gained 4 per cent and was seen trading near its life-time in trades on Friday.

The framework seeks to ensure that mineral-producing countries, particularly in the Global South, derive maximum benefit from their resources, moving beyond mere raw material exports

Backed by up to 50 million pounds in new funding, the strategy seeks to ensure no more than 60 per cent of the UK's supply of any one critical mineral comes from a single country by 2035