India will auction about 20 blocks of critical minerals in the next week as the country looks to secure domestic supplies of the raw materials, considered key for clean energy transition.
India has made “necessary amendments” in its mines and minerals law to speed up the exploration of critical minerals, Kantha Rao, secretary of the ministry of mines, told attendees at the IEA Critical Minerals Summit in Paris on Thursday.
“The focus on critical minerals in India has been enhanced through more exploratory activities… and over the last couple of years we have about 124 new projects that have been lined up,” Mr Rao said.
Earlier this year, India found 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves in the Jammu and Kashmir region, and the government had said it hoped to find more reserves later this year.
The country aims to have electric vehicles account for 30 per cent of car sales by 2030, as it strives to cut its carbon emissions and dependence on crude oil imports. It plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2070.
Last month, an official from India’s mining ministry said preparations had begun to start the auction process for about 100 critical mineral blocks in the next four months.
The blocks are for minerals including nickel, lithium, cobalt, and platinum, along with rare earths, mines secretary Vivek Bharadwaj told Bloomberg.
The market for critical minerals, used in electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies, more than doubled in size over the past five years, according to the International Energy Agency.
From 2017 to 2022, the energy sector drove a threefold increase in lithium demand, a 70 per cent surge in cobalt demand and a 40 per cent increase in the demand for nickel, the Paris-based agency said in its Critical Minerals Market Review in July.
The energy transition minerals market reached $320 billion in 2022, moving it increasingly to the centre stage for the global mining industry, the IEA said.
“There is a risk that this clean energy transition moving fast may be hinging on whether or not the world will have enough critical minerals at the right time and at [an] affordable price,” Fatih Birol, IEA’s executive director, said on Thursday.
Mr Birol also said supply chain risks were posed by the concentration of production and refining of critical minerals in a few countries.
“The magic word is diversification… [and]while the investments are growing, the concentration is growing as well,” he said.
US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm, who was also speaking at the event, urged policymakers to think “creatively” when it came to critical minerals.
“We've got to align across our innovation ecosystems, permitting processes, market transparency, and more, so that when supply disruptions strike, we'll have a broad set of tools to aid in our response,” Ms Granholm said.
The exploitation of critical minerals should not turn into a “race to the bottom” and companies should look “beyond the balance sheets” to ensure fair wages, safe working conditions and environmental protections, she said.
EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton told participants at the event that Europe intends to be a “strong partner” in critical minerals collaborations.
“Today, the EU industry remains a world leader in mining equipment as well as…recycling facilities, but it's fair to say that we lost we lost our competitive edge in mining and in processing for many reasons,” Mr Breton said.
Miners operating in the region face several hurdles including administrative complexity and high energy prices, he added.
“Also, let us be honest. We have [for] maybe too long considered that decarbonising meant relocating outside of the EU, and this was wrong. We need to change that.”
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
Verdict: Three stars
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Poacher
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The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)
On sale: Now
EA Sports FC 24
Results:
2.15pm: Handicap (PA) Dh60,000 1,200m.
Winner: AZ Dhabyan, Adam McLean (jockey), Saleha Al Ghurair (trainer).
2.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 1,200m.
Winner: Ashton Tourettes, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel.
3.15pm: Conditions (PA) Dh60,000 2,000m.
Winner: Hareer Al Reef, Gerald Avranche, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
3.45pm: Maiden (PA) Dh60,000 1,700m.
Winner: Kenz Al Reef, Gerald Avranche, Abdallah Al Hammadi.
4.15pm: Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup (TB) Dh 200,000 1,700m.
Winner: Mystique Moon, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
4.45pm: The Crown Prince Of Sharjah Cup Prestige (PA) Dh200,000 1,200m.
Winner: ES Ajeeb, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel.
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Read more from Aya Iskandarani
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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What should do investors do now?
What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?
Should I be euphoric?
No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.
So what happened?
It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.
"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."
Should I buy? Should I sell?
Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.
"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.
All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.
Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.
Will the rally last?
No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.
"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
