Understanding the Importance of Critical Minerals

FAQs: Quad Critical Minerals Initiative

1. What is the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative?

The Quad Critical Minerals Initiative is a joint effort by India, the US, Japan, and Australia to secure and diversify supply chains for critical minerals vital to industries such as renewable energy, defense, and electronics. Launched in July 2025, it aims to reduce dependence on China and ensure a stable, reliable global mineral supply.

2. Why are critical minerals geopolitically important?

Critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, and graphite are essential for green technologies, electronics, and strategic sectors like defense. Their scarcity and concentration in a few countries make them key tools of geopolitical influence and competition.

3. Why is China’s control over critical minerals a concern?

China dominates the global critical mineral supply chain:

• ~90% of global rare earth processing
• ~60% of lithium refining
• ~62% of cobalt refining

It has also used export restrictions as a geopolitical tool — banning exports of gallium, germanium, and graphite in response to Western policies. This dominance poses risks to global industries dependent on stable supply chains.

4. What are China’s recent restrictions?

Since 2024, China has implemented several export restrictions:

• Suspended exports of seven heavy rare earth elements (e.g., samarium, dysprosium, terbium)
• Banned exports of gallium, germanium, antimony, and graphite
• Introduced stricter monitoring with “zero tolerance” for illegal exports

These moves disrupted global production lines, especially in the electronics and clean energy sectors, creating urgency for alternative sources.

5. What are the goals of the Quad initiative?

• Secure and diversify supply chains for critical minerals
• Promote mineral recycling and recovery from e-waste
• Collaborate in processing, refining, and technological innovation
• Reduce strategic vulnerabilities in defense, EVs, and semiconductor industries

6. How is India contributing to this initiative?

India plays a major role through multiple strategic efforts:

• KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Ltd): Securing overseas mineral assets, such as lithium in Argentina.
• Membership in the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP): Joined in 2023 as the first developing nation.
• India-US TRUST Initiative: Focuses on technological cooperation in mineral processing.
• Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI): A trilateral alliance with Japan and Australia launched in 2021.
• Global outreach: Engaging with Argentina, Chile, Zambia, Mongolia, and the DRC for resource access.

7. What role does private industry play in the Quad initiative?

During the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, 30–40 companies from member nations convened to discuss industry participation. The private sector plays a key role in investment, technology transfer, and building resilient industrial supply networks for processing and refining.

8. What is India’s long-term strategy for critical minerals?

• Diversify import sources from Latin America, Central Asia, and Africa
• Collaborate on technology sharing with Japan and other partners
• Engage in global forums like MSP, Quad, and the Critical Raw Materials Club (EU+)
• Build domestic processing and refining capacity to reduce import dependency

9. How has Japan responded to mineral supply threats in the past?

Following tensions with China in 2010 over the Senkaku Islands, Japan revived parts of its domestic rare earth processing sector. It has since focused on diversifying sources, expanding strategic stockpiles, and investing in mining infrastructure across friendly nations.

10. How does the Quad plan differ from purely commercial collaborations?

The Quad approach treats critical minerals as a matter of strategic and national security importance. It emphasizes risk mitigation, resilient partnerships, and secure access rather than relying solely on market forces or trade deals.

Synopsis:

The Quad Critical Minerals Initiative represents a strategic partnership among India, the US, Japan, and Australia to build resilient, sustainable, and geopolitically secure mineral supply chains. It underscores a global shift toward reducing dependency on China and promoting sustainable mineral sourcing through cooperation, innovation, and shared security frameworks.