“The move comes as Indian state-run companies step up efforts to secure overseas supplies of critical minerals such as lithium and bauxite in order to reduce dependence on China, though such efforts have so far borne little fruit.”
“Coal India has applied with Singapore authorities to register the office, which will also support efforts to acquire mineral assets overseas, said the sources involved in the discussions, who sought anonymity as the talks are not public.”
“Coal India is evaluating opportunities in several mineral-rich regions, including bauxite assets in Ghana and other parts of Africa, the source said, adding that the miner was also looking at rare earth minerals.”
“For lithium, the miner is focusing on Chile while also evaluating opportunities in Canada and Australia for other critical mineral assets, though opportunities are at a preliminary stage, the second source said.”
“Last week, Reuters reported that Coal India was considering acquiring a unit of Canada’s Wealth Minerals with lithium mining assets in Chile, providing potential access to a key battery metal used in electric vehicles and energy storage systems.”