Critical minerals: Global challenge to China dominance gains pace

Last week, Ukraine and the United States signed a deal to mine rare earths containing critical minerals in Ukraine. President Trump signed an executive order for deep sea mining in international ocean-beds to explore rare earths. The race for challenging China’s dominance of critical minerals that are in short supply has gathered pace. 

Critical minerals/metals like cobalt, graphite, lithium, gallium, germanium, antimony, beryllium etc. are required in making mobile phones, solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, aerospace, electronics and other clean energy equipment. China has 44 per cent of the known rare earth deposits that contain such critical minerals and