عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Business

Source: Coal India Exploring Lithium Assets in Argentina with US Firm

FILE PHOTO: Brine pools used to extract lithium are seen next to a lithium mining camp at the Salar del Rincon salt flat, in Salta, Argentina August 12, 2021. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Brine pools used to extract lithium are seen next to a lithium mining camp at the Salar del Rincon salt flat, in Salta, Argentina August 12, 2021. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File Photo
TT
20
TT

Source: Coal India Exploring Lithium Assets in Argentina with US Firm

FILE PHOTO: Brine pools used to extract lithium are seen next to a lithium mining camp at the Salar del Rincon salt flat, in Salta, Argentina August 12, 2021. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Brine pools used to extract lithium are seen next to a lithium mining camp at the Salar del Rincon salt flat, in Salta, Argentina August 12, 2021. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File Photo

State-run Coal India Ltd is exploring lithium blocks in Argentina along with a US company to secure supplies of the battery material, an Indian source with direct knowledge said on Tuesday.
The efforts are part of India's membership under the US-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), which New Delhi joined last year to ensure adequate supplies of minerals to meet zero-carbon goals.
India has been exploring ways to secure supplies of lithium, a critical raw material used to make electric vehicle batteries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government last year listed 30 minerals, including lithium, nickel, titanium, vanadium and tungsten, as critical to drive the adoption of clean energy.
India and the United States said on Monday they were co-investing in a lithium resource project in South America and a rare earths deposit in Africa to diversify critical minerals supply chains.
India has been in talks with several countries, including the US, to collaborate in lithium processing and avoid relying on China, Reuters had reported. The rare
"Coal India has come forward for the Kachi block in Argentina in which a US company and two other countries are interested to explore under the MSP," the source said, declining to be identified due to the sensitive nature of discussions.
Preliminary studies are being conducted, the source added.
Australian miner Lake Resources, which has a lithium project in Kachi, is targeting 50 kilotons of annual battery-grade lithium from the project by 2030.
Coal India shares turned positive after the Reuters report, rising as much as 1.2% before trimming gains to trade 0.3% higher.
Shares of the company had been down 0.2% before the news.
In February, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on a trip to Argentina that the US was exploring investment opportunities in critical minerals, especially lithium.
Coal India and India's federal Ministry of Mines did not immediately respond to Reuters' emails for comments.
Under the minerals partnership, which India had joined last year, New Delhi was invited to participate in 20-25 critical minerals projects, of which four have been identified by the Indian government, with two of these are in collaboration with the US, the source said.
The second project is in the Kangankunde block in Malawi, the source said, which is being explored by India's state-owned IREL (India) Ltd for rare earths.
IREL did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comments.
The Indian government has also asked miners to explore critical minerals in Australia's Dubbo region, the source said.
India had also proposed a critical minerals trade deal with US, which would prohibit imposition of tariffs on both countries by each other and would be similar to a pact US has with Japan that grants Japanese automakers wider access to US electrical vehicles tax credit, the source said.
However, the US is in talks with India for a bilateral Critical Minerals Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), both countries said on Monday.

Most Viewed

 
Business

China Slams 'Appeasement' of US as Nations Rush to Secure Trade Deals

FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
TT
20
TT

China Slams 'Appeasement' of US as Nations Rush to Secure Trade Deals

FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong, China, April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

China on Monday hit out at other countries making trade deals with the United States at Beijing's expense, vowing countermeasures against those who "appease" Washington in the blistering tariff war as its neighbors rush to secure favorable terms from the White House.

While the rest of the world has been hit with a blanket 10 percent tariff, China faces levies of up to 145 percent on many products. Beijing has responded with duties of 125 percent on US goods, AFP reported.

Parallel to Washington's full trade war against top economic rival China, a number of countries are now engaged in negotiations with the United States to lower tariffs.
South Korean giants such as Samsung Electronics and auto maker Hyundai stand to take a hefty hit if the White House goes ahead with its threatened levies.

Japan's prime minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Saturday that talks between Japan and the United States could be a "model for the world", after Tokyo's tariffs envoy Ryosei Akazawa visited Washington and met President Donald Trump last week.

"The fact that President Trump came out (to negotiate with Japan's envoy)... shows he sees talks with Japan as important," he told the country's parliament on Monday.

"Japan is their ally and the biggest investor and job creator in the US," Ishiba said.
US Vice President JD Vance also arrived in India on Monday for a four-day official visit as the two countries work to hash out a trade agreement.

But Beijing warned nations on Monday not to seek a deal with the United States that compromised its interests.

"Appeasement will not bring peace, and compromise will not be respected," a spokesperson for China's commerce ministry said in a statement.

"To seek one's own temporary selfish interests at the expense of others' interests is to seek the skin of a tiger," Beijing said.

That approach, it warned, "will ultimately fail on both ends and harm others".

"China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of China's interests," the spokesperson said.

"If such a situation occurs, China will never accept it and will resolutely take reciprocal countermeasures," they added.

- 'Talking to China' -
Trump's tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin.

Trump said last week that the United States was in talks with China on tariffs, adding that he was confident the world's largest economies could make a deal to end the bitter trade war.

"Yeah, we're talking to China," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I would say they have reached out a number of times."

"I think we're going to make a very good deal with China," he said at the White House.

China has vowed to fight the trade war "to the end" and has not confirmed specific talks with Washington, though it has called for dialogue.

Speaking alongside his Indonesian counterpart in Beijing on Monday, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi called for "openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit and win-win" and condemned "any form of unilateralism and trade protectionism".

"The abuse of tariffs will seriously damage the normal economic and trade exchanges among countries," he warned.

Beijing's commerce ministry also warned about an international order reverting to the "law of the jungle".

"Where the strong prey on the weak, all countries will become victims," the spokesperson said.

As part of Trump's trade war, the US government has also lowered the threshold at which parcels to individuals require formal entry processing by US Customs -- to $800 from $2,500 as of April 5.

Trump's government has taken particular aim at China, and earlier this month Washington closed a duty-free exemption for small parcels from the country, a move that appeared to be designed to target low-cost online retailers like Temu and Shein.

In a statement in response, global shipping giant DHL said it will "temporarily" suspend the shipping of parcels worth more than $800 from businesses to individuals in the United States as of Monday.