The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the European Union following the conclusion of the Minerals Security Partnership's ministerial meetings in London.
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Today, the partners of the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) held a principals' meeting in London, the world capital of mining and metals finance, on the margins of London Metal Exchange (LME) Week 2023. The theme of the meeting was responsible investment in critical minerals, with the key objective to strengthen collaboration between the MSP, like-minded partners, and the global financial community. Nusrat Ghani, Minister of State for Business and Trade of the United Kingdom, and Jose W. Fernandez, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, co-chaired the meeting.
The session convened the 14 partners of the MSP, representatives from emerging minerals economies, and a range of private sector organizations. Representatives from Australia, Brazil, Canada, European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Zambia participated. MSP partners were joined by members of the finance community, including the Church of England Pension Fund, Standard Chartered, and ICMM.
The MSP aims to catalyze public and private sector investments to build diverse, secure, and responsible global critical minerals supply chains. Building upon the MSP's commitment to high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards in the global minerals sector, as expressed in the Principles for Responsible Critical Minerals Supply Chains , the MSP has published a public statement co-signed with private sector financiers which confirms the parties' intention to deepen collaboration to drive responsible investment in critical minerals projects. Governments, project developers, and investors all have an important role to play in de-risking and financing critical minerals projects that increase global production while promoting supply chain diversification, protecting the environment, and uplifting local communities.
At the meeting, the MSP partners confirmed they are working to advance the following projects that have a high potential to contribute to the development of responsible critical mineral supply chains, demonstrate high ESG standards, facilitate the global energy transition, and are collaborating with relevant governmental or financial agencies of MSP partners:
- Eleven projects in upstream mining and mineral extraction, four projects in midstream minerals processing, and two projects in recycling and recovery;
- One project focusing primarily on lithium; three on graphite; two on nickel; one on cobalt; one on manganese; two on copper; and seven on rare earth elements;
- Five projects in the Americas, seven projects in Africa, three projects in Europe, and two projects in Asia-Pacific.
Notable milestones were achieved for the following projects:
- Chvaletice Manganese Project: This project supports the shift to a circular economy and contributes to site remediation efforts by delivering responsibly-produced manganese for the EV industry through the re-processing of manganese in mine tailings in Czechia. Implemented by the Canadian company Euro Manganese, the project will produce high-purity electrolytic manganese metal needed for the battery supply chain. Companies from MSP partner countries are developing offtake agreements for the material, including cathode active material ("CAM") and the precursor product ("pCAM") producers, battery makers and automobile manufacturers. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) InnoEnergy are providing financial support. The EU and Canada are engaged on this project through the MSP and through their bilateral strategic partnership on raw materials. Euro Manganese is also preparing a feasibility study for a dissolution plant in Bécancour, Canada, to produce a high-purity electrolytic manganese sulphate monohydrate powder from high-purity manganese metal.
- Queensland Pacific Metals (QPM): QPM's Townsville Energy Chemical Hub (TECH) project will build nickel processing capacity in northern Australia, diversifying the midstream of the supply chain for nickel, an essential mineral for electric vehicle batteries. QPM has received approximately AUD 1.4 billion (USD 900 million) in conditional debt commitments from financing agencies in Australia, Canada and Germany. QPM has already secured offtake agreements for 100 percent of nickel and cobalt sales for the life of the project with partners including the United States' General Motors, and the Republic of Korea's LG Energy Solution and POSCO.
- Twigg Exploration and Mining: The Board of Directors of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) approved a loan of up to USD 150 million in financing to Twigg Exploration and Mining to fund investments in the company's graphite mining and processing operation in Balama, Mozambique. The loan will increase production and diversify the global supply chain for graphite, which is a critical mineral for a range of clean energy and advanced technology products. DFC's support will also lead to job creation and investment in local infrastructure while ensuring high environmental and social standards that are essential for responsible mining. This investment complements an investment by Twigg's parent company, Syrah Resources, in the Vidalia graphite active anode material processing facility in Louisiana, which received a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. These efforts represent a key contribution to the MSP and the U.S. critical minerals strategy, working together with a strong private sector partner.
This list will be updated periodically.
In addition to the above projects, the MSP is continually assessing potential investment opportunities across all eligible markets that would support diversification of critical mineral supply chains and development of the associated infrastructure.
The MSP remains committed to leveraging the collective financial and diplomatic resources of its 14 partners to provide support for strategic projects and project developers that exemplify the partners' principles. MSP partners will continue working together with a wide range of non-MSP partners and private sector entities to catalyze support for these projects and shape the global discussion around critical minerals supply chains.
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Visit the State Department's MSP webpage to learn more: https://www.state.gov/minerals-security-partnership/.
