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State-owned Coal India Ltd is exploring lithium blocks in Argentina with a US company to secure supplies of the battery material, according to an Indian source with firsthand information. The initiatives are part of India's membership in the US-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), which the country joined last year to ensure adequate mineral supplies to satisfy zero-carbon targets.
India and the United States said they would collaborate to diversify vital minerals supply chains by investing in a lithium resource project in South America and a rare earths discovery in Africa. India has been in talks with several nations, including the US, to work together on lithium processing to become less dependent on China, Reuters reported.
"Coal India has come forward for the Kachi block in Argentina in which a U.S. company and two other countries are interested to explore under the MSP," the source said, declining to be identified due to the sensitive nature of discussions.
In February, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on a trip to Argentina that the US was exploring investment opportunities in critical minerals, especially lithium. Coal India and India's federal Ministry of Mines did not immediately respond to Reuters' emails for comments.
Under the minerals partnership, which India joined last year, New Delhi was invited to participate in 20-25 critical minerals projects. The Indian government has identified four, two of which are in collaboration with the US, the source said. The second project is in the Kangankunde block in Malawi, the source said. India's state-owned IREL (India) Ltd is exploring the block for rare earths.
The Indian government has also asked miners to explore critical minerals in Australia's Dubbo region, the source said.
India had also proposed a critical minerals trade deal with the US, which would prohibit the imposition of tariffs on both countries by each other and would be similar to a pact the US has with Japan that grants Japanese automakers wider access to US electric vehicles tax credit, the source said. However, the US and India said on Monday that they are in talks for a bilateral Critical Minerals Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
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