Last week, I spoke at an excellent conference put together by the Asia Centre Bangalore and the Indian Council of World Affairs titled ‘Critical Minerals and Rare Earths: Complexities & The Way Ahead.’
The best part was that Lt Gen CA Krishnan, who is deeply interested in the subject himself, assembled a diverse group of people from government, industry, and academia. There were top geologists, entrepreneurs in the urban mining space, miners, and government reps in one place. So, we got a 360-degree perspective on all things critical minerals.
I spoke on the topic “Geopolitics of Critical Minerals,” and I made three points:
- Not all critical minerals are as critical in the same way.
- We overestimate China’s geopolitical leverage on account of its dominant position in critical mineral supply chains.
- We underestimate the substitutes and alternatives being developed.
I am making the slides open access.