Coal India exploring lithium assets in Argentina with U.S. firm, source says (updated)

Lake Resources NL

18/06/2024 11:15

(Adds Kachi estimates and Coal India stock reaction in
paragraphs 7, 8 & 9.)
    By Neha Arora and Krishn  Kaushik
       NEW DELHI, June 18 (Reuters) - State-run Coal India Ltd
 COAL.NS  is exploring lithium blocks in Argentina along with a
U.S. 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
U.S.-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 U.S., 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 U.S. 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  LKE.AX , which has a
lithium project in Kachi, is targeting 50 kilotonnes 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, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on
a trip to Argentina that the U.S. 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 U.S., 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
U.S., which would prohibit imposition of tariffs on both
countries by each other and would be similar to a pact U.S. has
with Japan that grants Japanese automakers wider access to U.S.
electrical vehicles tax credit, the source said.
    However, the U.S. is in talks with India for a bilateral
Critical Minerals Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), both
countries said on Monday.
    

 (Reporting by Neha Arora and Krishn Kaushik in New Delhi,
Editing by Louise Heavens)
 ((neha.dasgupta@tr.com;))