Page 8 - Minerals

India joins US-led security finance network to secure critical minerals

The Minerals Security Finance Network seeks to promote collaboration between the Indo-Pacific region and Europe, ensuring a secure, sustainable, and diversified supply of critical minerals

US-China research has given Beijing's military tech boost, says House GOP

Partnerships between the US and China at universities over the past decade have allowed hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to aid Beijing in developing critical technology that could be used for military purposes, congressional Republicans asserted in a new report. The report said US tax dollars have contributed to China's technological advancement and military modernization when American researchers worked with their Chinese peers in areas such as hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, nuclear technology and semiconductor technology. The report, released Monday by Republicans on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and the House Education and Workforce Committee, raised concerns over the national security risks of collaborations between researchers from the two countries that were once celebrated. It urged stronger safeguards and more robust enforcement. The committees conducted a yearlong investigation as lawmakers and their policy advise

IPEF identifies semiconductors, minerals, batteries as critical sectors

India attends IPEF Supply Chain Council, Crisis Response Network in Washington

India's zinc consumption to rise to over 2 mn tonnes in next 10 years

India's zinc consumption is estimated to increase to over 2 million tonnes in the next 10 years from the current 1.1 million tonnes, International Zinc Association (IZA) said on Thursday. Speaking on the sidelines of Zinc College, 2024 event here, Andrew Green, Executive Director of IZA, said: "The zinc consumption and demand in India is 1.1 million tonnes (MT), which is higher than the current production in India. ...this is likely to go over 2 MT in the next 10 years. That's the forecast." Zinc College is organised every two years by the International Zinc Association in partnership with a member company. Hindustan Zinc Ltd is the partner of Zinc College 2024. He further said that the global zinc market is around 13.5 million tonnes per annum in terms of primary production. And one of the big differences is that if one looks at the per capita use of zinc, on the global average it's about four to five times higher than what's happening in India. So there are a number of areas wher

SC to set up bench to hear pleas of states on recovery of royalty, tax dues

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will set up a bench to hear subsequent pleas of mineral-rich states like Jharkhand seeking to recover royalty and tax dues on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands worth thousands of crore of rupees from the Centre and mining firms. On July 25, a nine-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, in a majority 8:1 verdict, had ruled that the legislative power to tax mineral rights vests in states and not Parliament. In a subsequent order on August 14, the top court clarified that the judgement will not have prospective effect and permitted mineral-rich states recover from the Centre and mining firms the royalty and tax dues on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands worth thousands of crore of rupees since April 1, 2005 over a period of 12 years. On Wednesday, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for Jharkhand, urged the bench comprising the CJI and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra to allocate the pleas, relating to recover

Indians across all age groups deficient in iron, calcium, folate: Lancet

People across all age groups in India, both men and women, are consuming inadequate amounts of micronutrients critical for health, including iron, calcium and folate, as estimated in a study published in The Lancet Global Health journal. The study is the first to provide estimates of insufficient consumption of 15 micronutrients across 185 countries, taken through diets without the use of supplements, according to an international team, including researchers from Harvard University, US. The findings suggested that around the world, almost 70 per cent, or over five billion, people do not consume enough iodine, vitamin E, and calcium. The researchers also found that within a country and an age group, more women were consuming inadequate amounts of iodine, vitamin B12 and iron, compared to men, whereas more men were consuming inadequate amounts of magnesium, vitamin B6, zinc and vitamin C, compared to women. In India, while more women consumed insufficient amounts of iodine, compared

Prez Murmu stresses upon increasing focus on minerals for green transition

President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday stressed upon the need to increase the focus on critical minerals for green transition. Critical minerals, including lithium, play a crucial role in the production of clean energy technologies, from wind turbines to electric cars. They are particularly in demand for the production of batteries for electric cars. Speaking during National Geoscience Awards function, Murmu said the Critical Minerals Mission can provide essential raw material for green transition. For sustainable development, she said, India is committed to net-zero emission. Murmu also said that for making India a developed nation by 2047, there is a need for self reliance on mineral production and mineral exploration. Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy said the government is focusing on making India self reliant in critical and strategic minerals. He further said that 14 critical mineral blocks have been put on sale. The government, he said, is giving priority to offsh

Centre to offer financial support to boost critical minerals sector growth

The focus of this initiative is to help find ways to develop extraction technology and better methods of beneficiation

Centre unveils rules to boost offshore mineral exploration & production

The Rules come ahead of the Centre's scheduled launch of the inaugural round of offshore mineral auctions

Can states tax mining activities retrospectively? SC reserves verdict

Meanwhile, Advocate General of Odisha Pritambar Acharya appeared in a dilemma when the court asked him whether the judgment should apply retrospectively or not

Refund of mineral royalties could cost Rs 70k-80k crore: Centre to SC

On July 25, a nine-judge constitution bench ruled that the power to tax mineral rights lies with the states and that royalty paid on minerals is not a tax.

Royalty not tax: SC grants states power to levy taxes on mineral rights

The Supreme Court has affirmed that states have the authority to levy taxes on mineral rights and would not be limited by the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 1957 (MMDR Act)

ISA members negotiate deep sea mining code in Jamaica as opposition mounts

Supporters say deep sea mining will help boost supplies of raw materials like cobalt and nickel, which are needed for the global energy transition

Centre releases draft guidelines for 'responsible and sustainable' mining

Dated July 2, these rules provide a framework for preparation and approval of exploration and production plans

Breaking the minerals monopoly

India can draw inspiration from Indonesia's success in nickel to lead globally in critical minerals

Mining majors give a miss to country's maiden critical minerals auction

This is not the first time the Centre has cancelled an auction due to limited interest from bidders; in the first tranche, the ministry had to cancel 14 of the 20 blocks put up for auctioning

India-US working on to deepen collaboration in mining, critical minerals

Joint research by geological agencies, MoU on critical minerals, and tech exchange on the cards

South Korea's Prez Yoon heads to Central Asia for talks on energy, minerals

Yoon will visit Turkmenistan with the first lady for a state visit before heading to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

Dependency on minerals import risks India's green tech progress: ICRA

According to the report, there has been a gradual shift in global energy policy priorities from fuel and energy security to mineral security

India's mineral production increases by 8% in February, says govt

India's mineral output rose 8 per cent in February as compared to the year-ago period, the government said on Thursday. The index of mineral production of the mining and quarrying sector for February 2024 at 139.6 is 8 per cent than February last year. The cumulative growth for the April-February period of 2023-24 over the corresponding period of the previous year is 8.2 per cent, as per the provisional statistics of Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), the mines ministry said in a statement. In February, the production of coal was 966 lakh tonnes, lignite 42 lakh tonnes, natural gas (utilised) 2,886 million cubic metre, petroleum (crude) 23 lakh tonne, among others, it said. The minerals that showed positive growth include gold, copper conc, bauxite, chromite, phosphorite, limestone and coal. "Other important minerals showing negative growth include iron ore and lead conc," the statement added.