The Race for Critical Minerals

Ravichandran Harini, Jadetimes Staff

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https://globaledge.msu.edu/blog/post/57382/the-race-for-critical-minerals-is-on

Why Lithium, Cobalt, and Rare Earth Elements Are Powering the Global Economy

A single electric vehicle battery pack contains roughly eight kilograms of lithium, fourteen kilograms of cobalt, and dozens of kilograms of nickel and graphite, minerals mined from Chilean salt flats, Congolese hillsides, and Indonesian rainforests, then refined thousands of miles away before ever reaching a factory floor. Multiply that by the tens of millions of EVs, wind turbines, and smartphones now rolling off assembly lines each year, and a quiet truth emerges. The clean energy and digital revolutions run not on code alone, but on rock.

Critical minerals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, copper, and rare earth elements, are the raw materials behind batteries, magnets, semiconductors, and the data centers powering artificial intelligence. Lithium and cobalt store energy in batteries. Nickel and graphite improve battery density and lifespan. Rare earths like neodymium make wind turbine magnets and smartphone components possible. Demand is surging accordingly. Lithium demand rose by nearly 30% in 2024, while demand for nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earths increased by 6 to 8%, according to the International Energy Agency's Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025.

That growth has turned mineral security into a matter of national strategy. Nations are racing to lock in supply through mines, refineries, and trade deals, aware that China currently controls the large majority of the world's critical mineral supply chain. Between 2020 and 2024, roughly $60 billion was invested in Latin American copper and lithium projects, $25 billion in Indonesian nickel, and $15 billion in African cobalt deposits, a wave of capital reshaping global trade routes and manufacturing alliances, from U.S. Australia mineral pacts to EU critical raw materials partnerships with African producers.

Yet the boom carries real costs. Mining and processing strain water resources, disturb ecosystems, and, in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where artisanal mining accounts for about 15% of cobalt production, raise persistent human rights concerns. Supply is also dangerously concentrated. Export restrictions from major producers, including China's 2024 curbs on gallium and germanium, have exposed how fragile these chains really are.

Companies are responding. Australia's Pilbara Minerals and America's Albemarle have expanded lithium refining outside China, while the DRC and Zambia have pursued a joint battery supply chain initiative with Western backing to process cobalt and copper locally rather than export raw ore.

Ultimately, the contest for critical minerals is not merely about extraction. It is about who builds the batteries, the grids, and the machines of tomorrow, and on what terms the energy transition unfolds.