📋 Tender Overview
The text of the following statement was released by the Governments of the Republic of Korea and Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Union following the conclusion of the Minerals Security Partnerships Principals Meeting in New York.
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Today, the partners of the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) held a Principals Meeting in New York during the United Nations General Assembly. The meeting focused on accelerating MSP projects, and enhancing cooperation between MSP Partners and MSP Forum Members. Republic of Korea Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul opened the Partners meeting, and Kang Insun, the 2nd Vice Foreign Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, chaired the meeting.
The MSP Partners highlighted the announcement on September 23 of the creation of the MSP Finance Network, during a meeting of MSP Partners and their respective development finance institutions (DFIs) and export credit agencies (ECAs). This new network will further strengthen cooperation and promote information exchange and co-financing among participating institutions to advance diverse, secure, and sustainable supply chains for critical minerals. The private sector entities who also attended the MSP Finance meeting on September 23 collectively represent over 171 billion in funds raised, 34 trillion in assets under management, and 26 trillion in market capitalization. This impressive financial backing along with the billions of dollars available from the MSP public finance agencies underscore the immense potential for impact and collaboration.
The MSP Partners also welcomed the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, the Philippines, Serbia, Turkiye, and Zambia as new members of the MSP Forum in that groups first in-person meeting, also on September 26. MSP Forum members used this event to discuss opportunities, priorities, and challenges in responsible mining, processing, and recycling of critical minerals, with participation from ministers and high-level officials from MSP Forum members.
The MSP chair appreciated that several achievements have been realized since the previous Principals Meeting in March, thanks to unwavering support from MSP Partners. There were 23 MSP projects announced in March, and that number has since increased to 32 projects. Currently, various critical minerals projects are under way around the world, including upstream mining and mineral extraction, processing and recycling and recovery.
During the meeting, MSP partners identified 7 projects as having reached key milestones, emphasizing that accelerating MSP projects is crucial for ensuring a stable global supply chain of critical minerals, which is essential for the development of advanced industries and the clean energy transition.
Across the 32 MSP projects:
19 projects focus on upstream mining and mineral extraction, 15 on midstream processing, and 3 on recycling and recovery. 10 projects include rare earth elements, 6 graphite, 6 cobalt, 3 nickel, 2 copper, 2 lithium, 1 high-purity aluminum, 2 gallium, 2 germanium, and 1 manganese. The Partners note that some projects produce more than one mineral type. 13 project sites are located in Africa, 8 project sites in the Americas, 6 project sites in the Asia-Pacific region, and 5 project sites in Europe.
The 7 projects which have reached key milestones since the last meeting in March are:
KoBold Metals Mingomba Copper Exploration Project (Zambia): At the 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, KoBold and ZCCM-IH announced an initial 150 million investment in the Mingomba copper deposit located in Chililabombwe, Zambia into a world-class mine by using artificial intelligence (AI) to direct expedited mineral exploration in Zambias Copperbelt Province. In June 2024, KoBold Metals and ZCCM-IH announced an increased investment of more than 2 billion to develop the Mingomba project, which will play a key role to help Zambia increase its annual copper production to 3 million tons and help power the electrification of the global economy during the energy transition.
Gecamines-Umicore Germanium Project (DRC): In May of this year a new deal was finalized between STL, a subsidiary of La Generale des Carrieres et des Mines (Gecamines) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Belgiums Umicore, that advances cooperation on germanium offtake and processing. This milestone agreement, significantly increases the global supply of germanium, which is used in semiconductors, optical cables, solar cells, sensors for defense-related technologies, and more. The project also contributes to local economic development and skills training, and the development of recycling and recovery capacity in the DRC.
Mahenge Graphite Project (Tanzania): POSCO International, a major Korean trading firm, signed an agreement to purchase shares in Black Rock Mining Ltd. for 40 million to secure a supply of graphite from a Tanzanian mine. This investment brings POSCO Groups total ownership in Black Rock Mining to 19.9%, and will pave the way for the development of the Mahenge graphite mine in Tanzania. POSCO Group expects to receive 30,000 tons of graphite annually from the deal, starting in 2026, and up to 60,000 tons by 2028. Electra Ontario Cobalt Refinery (Canada): Canadian-based Electra Battery Materials received a U.S. 20 million award in August 2024 from the Defense Production Act Investments (DPAI) office of the U.S. Department of Defense.
