Coal India eyeing stakes in critical minerals, initial interest in battery metals: GM

Coal India Limited is venturing into 30 listed critical minerals with new MoUs, with an initial interest in battery metals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite, Dr. Chandra Shekhar Singh, General Manager (Business Development), and HoD, Critical Minerals & International Cooperation at CIL told Platts.

CIL is "also targeting other minerals, especially copper," having signed an MoU with Hindustan Copper to capitalize on the mineral "not only in India, but even abroad," Singh said.

CIL signed an MoU with the Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Oct. 6 for "exploration and exploitation" of critical minerals.

"When we went to CMDC, the basic objective was to jointly develop some projects because they have very good presence in the non-coal sector," Singh said.

"We have not yet finalized a particular project or mineral, but there is an initial interest in battery metals," he added. "Within a month or two, we will finalize the mineral, the block, and start operations towards it."

"Copper and manganese will be excluded, since they (CMDC) have an understanding with Hindustan Copper," Singh said.

The memorandum joins CIL's initiatives to hold stakes in critical minerals at a time when their exploration has emerged as India's new policy interest following global headwinds, President Trump's tariffs, and Chinese curbs on the supply chain.

"Sophisticated" processing technology

Speaking on CIL's envisaged offshore ventures, Singh said that while CMDC will not be involved, but "we have assured them for the technology support in case of processing, beneficiation, and processing of minerals."

"The processing becomes more important than mining of the minerals, especially if you go to non-coal sectors," he added.

"For that, there are technologies, especially for extraction, but for purification, when you go above 95%, for graphite as an example, it requires sophisticated technology."

CIL exploring ventures to diversify portfolio

Singh said that besides CMDC and Hindustan Copper, CIL has signed another important venture with the Madhya Pradesh State Mining Corporation.

CIL holds rights to the Khattali Chotti graphite block in Madhya Pradesh, which is spread over 599.76 hectares and marked India's first critical mineral asset allotted to a PSU under the new auction regime.

"We are constantly reaching out to other state governments so that jointly, we can do some good projects," Singh said.

Copper on the rise

The International Energy Agency notes that demand for copper is on a rise, increasing 3.2% year over year in 2024, and 2.7% in 2023 when the "global growth was almost entirely driven by China and India."

"In 2024, ex-China regions experienced robust growth, particularly in India, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia, driven by rapid infrastructure development and building construction," the agency said in its global critical minerals outlook 2025.

Looking ahead, major new sources of refined copper demand emerge in Asia outside of China, with India rapidly overtaking the United States to become the third-largest source of refined copper demand, with over 10% of global demand in 2025 from just 3% in 2024, IEA said.

In this regard, CIL's pushing partnership with Hindustan Copper appears as a strategic move, leveraging one of the fastest growing nonferrous spaces.

The industry sees most upside for copper among nonferrous metals in 2025, according to a poll at the LME Metals Seminar Oct. 13.

Copper concentrate prices are 25% higher since the start of the year, with the Platts-assessed copper concentrate CIF China at $2,830/mt on Oct. 13 from $2,259/mt on Jan. 1.

Coal dominates India's energy mix

Coal dominates India's energy mix, with a share of 46.4% in 2023, followed by 24.7% by oil, according to the IEA

CIL is the largest coal producer in India, offering a diversified portfolio across thermal and coking coal.

In September, CIL's coal production stood at 48.97 million metric tons, against offtake agreements of 53.56 million mt, according to the PSU's Oct. 1 disclosure.

This compares to a production and offtake of 50.94 million mt and 54.16 million mt in September 2024.

Similarly, for the April-September period, combined production volume stood at 329.14 million mt and offtakes at 356.16 million mt, compared to 341.35 million mt in output and 363.66 million mt in offtakes in the same period last year, according to the report.