There's this emerging notion of Canada as an impending superpower in mining the critical minerals that will run defining technologies of this century, from electric vehicles to smartphones and solar panels…In fact, global surveys suggest Canada holds a tiny percentage of mineable worldwide reserves of critical minerals and is not only way behind world-dominating China but lots of other countries too…"We've been asleep for years and years and years and have chosen not to act," said Eric Miller, a Canadian-born trade consultant based in Washington, D.C…"And the Chinese have had a deliberate strategy for 25 years to consolidate ownership in all critical minerals."…So now that the rest of planet Earth has woken up to the economic importance of several dozen industrial minerals like cobalt and lithium, here's the outlook…The International Energy Agency predicts demand for critical minerals will double by 2040, or even quadruple if we get serious about meeting our Paris climate commitments…Electric vehicle purchases are expected to grow tenfold this decade, stoking an insatiable appetite for lithium batteries and the cobalt that prevents them from melting…The U.S. Geological Survey runs a detailed inventory each year and the 2021 version offers sobering context about our position…For cobalt, Canada has three per cent of extractable reserves worldwide — one-seventh of what Australia has, behind Russia and the Philippines, and not even comparable to Congo which has over half the known supply, mostly owned by China…The Canadian government says the USGS reports don't tell the whole story, because they define reserves as currently economically viable mining sites, failing to capture the vast potential lying in the ground…The challenges for Canada are spelled out in a recent Commons committee study: remote, hard-to-reach sites, cold weather, environmental considerations, and necessary Indigenous-Crown consultations…Another challenge? Chinese state-backed entities have been buying Canadian-owned assets for years — and they haven't stopped…A former federal cabinet minister says people are finally aware of the importance of critical minerals; he compared that to a decade ago when he ran Industry Canada and people spoke of them primarily for their role in fighter jets…"People have woken up," said Tony Clement, a onetime Conservative minister. "I think there's an increased understanding of what's at stake. … I don't think the public wants to see [those Chinese takeovers] anymore."…He says Canada needs better control over its supply chains and that might require public funding to get mining sites open…"At a time when supply chains are disrupted around the world, when people are rethinking, 'Where are we getting things from,' … the U.S. could do worse than rely on its closest friend, its oldest friend, its most reliable friend," Trudeau said during an event at Washington's Wilson Center…There are things happening in Canada…Like, this month, a new road is scheduled to open in the Northwest Territories and it's supposed to help access a cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper site discovered in 1996…It's projected to reach a peak annual production of 2,000 tonnes of cobalt per year, which would single-handedly add more than one per cent to total global output.

Think of an electric car and the first name that comes to mind will probably be Tesla. The California company makes the world’s bestselling electric car and was recently valued at $1tn. But behind this US success story is a tale of China’s manufacturing might…Tesla’s factory in Shanghai now produces more cars than its plant in California. Some of the batteries that drive them are Chinese-made and the minerals that power the batteries are largely refined and mined by Chinese companies…As the world transitions to electric vehicles (EVs), companies are racing to secure and strengthen their positions in the battery supply chain, from mineral extraction and processing to battery and EV manufacturing. The sector has seen a move towards vertical integration – where one company controls a number of steps along the supply chain – to guarantee supply and, in some cases, to improve transparency…And in what has been dubbed, the “battery arms race”, China is in pole position…China is the world’s biggest market for EVs with total sales of 1.3m vehicles last year, more than 40% of sales worldwide. Chinese battery-maker CATL controls about 30% of the world’s EV battery market. And cobalt specialist suppliers Darton Commodities estimate that Chinese refineries supplied 85% of the world’s battery-ready cobalt last year; a mineral that helps to improve the stability of lithium-ion batteries…Most of that cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where almost 70% of the mining sector is dominated by Chinese companies…Drive through DRC’s southern copper and cobalt mining belt, and signs in Chinese are everywhere: at the entrance to casinos and hotels and on trucks and business premises… “The issue is that many of the Chinese mining companies are refusing to be transparent about their operations, but the human rights issues related to cobalt mining in the DRC did not arrive with the Chinese: the DRC has a long history of foreign players coming to the country and exploiting their resources with little accountability,” says Mark Dummett, programme director at Amnesty International…“Amnesty is extremely concerned about the impact that mining for electric car batteries is going to have on communities around the world; it has the potential to be devastating if the brands at the top don’t use their leverage to demand that these new global supply chains are set up in a way that respect human and environmental rights.”…DRC recently announced a review of some of its biggest mining contracts, including the $6.2bn deal which gave the Chinese consortium majority control over Sicomines in 2007…In Europe too, companies are beginning to gain on China’s lead. By the end of the decade, the continent is expected to have 28 factories producing lithium-ion cells, with production capacity due to increase by 1440% from 2020 levels, according to Darton Commodities. That growth is being driven by companies such as Britishvolt in Northumberland and Sweden’s Northvolt, as well as Asian firms expanding production into Europe…However, European investment in mining and the production of battery precursor and cathode materials is not keeping pace, says Andries Gerbens at Darton. “China will eventually become less dominant. Nonetheless, it will remain a big player,” he says…Simon Moores, CEO of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence told a US Senate committee in June that China is building the equivalent of one battery megafactory a week compared with one every four months in the US…He warned: “A new global lithium-ion economy is being created, yet any ambitions for the United States to be a leader continue to only creep forward and be outstripped by China and Europe.”

Critical raw materials (CRMs) are crucial for producing a broad range of goods and technologies. The transition towards digital, highly energy-efficient and climate-neutral European economies will lead to a significantly higher demand for CRMs. The technologies requiring them, such as batteries and electric engines, will be key to achieving the goals under the Paris Agreement…Parliament calls for an EU strategy to boost Europe’s strategic autonomy and resilience regarding the supply of CRMs, by creating a secondary market for recycled resources containing these materials. Under the Parliament’s proposals, more CRMs will have to be sourced from within the EU and its neighbourhood, sources for these materials will need to be diversified, and more research should focus on sustainable alternatives to these scarce materials…MEPs say that, in the short- to mid-term, focusing on recycling will not be enough on its own to meet the increasing demand for CRMs. They call for sustainable sourcing possibilities to be explored in CRM-rich member states. Parliament urges member states to make their authorisation processes for prospecting and sourcing projects more time-efficient and transparent, without lowering environmental and social standards…CRM projects should also get better funding opportunities under the National Recovery Plans and the Taxonomy Regulation. Member states' efforts should be pooled via an Important Project of Common Interest (IPCEI), MEPs stress…Waste recycling is crucial, MEPs say, given the significant presence of CRMs in electrical and electronic equipment. The Commission and member states should improve their efforts to properly collect and recycle end-of-life products with CRMs instead of stockpiling them in households and landfills, or incinerating them. Stronger controls of EU exports of key CRM waste products are needed, according to MEPs. A new task force should be set up to coordinate national CRMs activities…They call on EU member states to consider the strategic stockpiling of CRMs in order to secure their supplies, and say that future EU free trade and partnership agreements should include specific provisions on CRMs.

Tamasin Ford speaks to KC Michaels of the International Energy Agency says there will need to be a staggering increase in the amount of nickel, lithium, cobalt and rare earths being mined, in order to build all the batteries, wind turbines and solar panels needed. But mining consultant Dr Patience Mpofu says that the mines required can take anything up to 15 years to commission…With many of these critical minerals concentrated in the developing world, the fear is that a rapid increase in global demand may outstrip the supply from the formal mining industry, with the gap filled by much less responsible mining operations. Emmanuel Umpula of the Congo-based NGO African Resources Watch fears a worsening of human rights abuses and pollution from such mines. But Mark Cutifani, chief executive of mining giant Anglo American, says the industry is working hard to ensure better standards of behaviour…Click on the blue title to listen to story.

Tesla said on Friday it has withdrawn its application for state aid for its planned battery factory near Berlin as CEO Elon Musk declared the electric vehicle maker opposed all subsidies…The European Union in January approved a plan that included giving state aid to Tesla, BMW and others to support production of electric vehicle batteries and help the bloc to reduce imports from industry leader China. Tesla was expected to receive 1.14 billion euros ($1.28 billion) in EU funding for its battery plant in Gruenheide, Brandenburg under the plan, with a final decision likely by the end of the year…Construction plans for the plant would not be affected by the decision, the spokesperson said. "It has always been Tesla’s view that all subsidies should be eliminated," Musk posted on Twitter in response to a tweet by another user after Tesla said it had withdrawn its funding application. Report ad…"But that must include the massive subsidies for oil & gas. For some reason, governments don’t want to do that...," Musk added, deviating from the subject of the factory grant…Tesla itself is investing 5 billion euros in the battery plant, according to German economy ministry estimates…Meanwhile, construction of a car production site alongside the battery plant, which Tesla has begun building under pre-approval permits while it awaits final approval from the regional government, has made good progress in the last few weeks, a spokesperson for the federal economy ministry said…The latest round of online consultations for the public to express environmental and other concerns about the car factory and battery plant closed last week and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said he hopes to formally begin production by the end of the year and then ramp up as quickly as possible…Musk has made his irritation for German laws and processes known, saying in a letter to authorities in April that the country's complex planning requirements were at odds with the urgency needed to fight climate change.