A new ‘gold rush’? Miners diversify into critical minerals in India and abroad

The gold rush is turning into a rush for critical minerals as miners across India and the world eye the opportunities of the changing world order and the new energy transformation demand. These critical minerals include copper, lithium, cobalt and rare earths.

“We are diversifying into critical minerals alongside our gold business — we see this as a natural and strategic extension, given that critical minerals represent the future of the mining industry and are essential for the country’s long-term growth and next-generation technologies,” said Hanuma Prasad Modali, managing director of Deccan Gold Mines.

Deccan Gold Mines, earlier this week, announced that it had started drilling programmes to expand beyond gold into critical minerals such as nickel, copper, platinum group elements (PGE), and tungsten. Originally an India-focused gold mining company, Deccan has in recent years gone international, with explorations ranging from Spain to Kyrgyzstan.

It couldn’t have done this at a better time. On Wednesday, the Centre asked states to fast-track mineral exploration to boost critical minerals security. India has a ₹32,000 crore outlay for its National Critical Minerals Mission.

“Over 4,000 critical mineral exploration activities have already been initiated across the country,” Minister of Coal & Mines G. Kishan Reddy had said recently. “We are strengthening the entire value chain, from exploration to advanced processing, to ensure India converts its resource potential into strategic advantage,” he said.

The urgency stems from the fact that presently, 95 per cent of India’s critical minerals requirement is imported, with startups engaged in a desperate pursuit of what is also referred to as ‘urban mining’, which is essentially recycling of usable lithium and such critical minerals from end-of-life electric vehicles and mobile phones.

The present rush of miners is equally due to the huge unmet demand for such minerals and rare earths all around the world, as much as to governments accelerating the shift by encouraging critical minerals exploration to maintain supply chain logistics. US President Donald Trump, for example, has gotten aggressive in the country’s search for critical mineral supply changes with its 30-billion dollar ‘Project Vault’ forming a critical minerals trade bloc with allies like Japan and the EU.

“There is significant business potential in this space,” explained Modali. "In India and several other regions, exploration for these minerals remains relatively underdeveloped, creating strong opportunities for new discoveries.”

Competition will be tough, with China already controlling a substantial chunk of the global critical minerals supply chain, as well as having the technology and wherewithal to process them.

Deccan Gold Mines has built a diversified portfolio of critical mineral assets, including a Nickel–Copper–PGE project in Chhattisgarh. In addition, as part of its international projects, it is also working on a Lithium–Tantalum–Copper–Gold project in Mozambique as well as a Tungsten project in Spain.