IREL (India) eyes big expansion for clean energy transition.

0India’s sole rare-earths producer IREL (India) Ltd. wants to boost its mining capacity by four times in the coming decade to help the country lock in supplies of key minerals for its clean-energy transition.

State-owned IREL (India) Ltd. aims to mine 50 million tonnes a year of rare-earths bearing ore by end-2032, up from 10 million tonnes now,  Chairman D. Singh said in an interview. That would it allow it to produce 13,000 tons annually of refined rare earths, versus 5,000 tons at present.

Like other major economies, India is grappling with the issue of securing supplies of materials like rare earths and lithium that will be needed in bigger quantities in the shift away from fossil fuels. Geopolitical tensions also mean there’s concern about China’s grip over commodities used in everything from electric vehicles to wind turbines.

“In future, the non-availability of these materials could hold back India from achieving its clean energy goals,” Singh said, while urging authorities to fast-track permits for the company’s planned new mines. 

Building a domestic rare earths industry in India has numerous challenges: from a historically cautious approach to mine permitting, to the low quality of ore and relatively undeveloped downstream capacity. IREL’s own refineries are stuck at no more than 40% of capacity because there’s not enough mined ore to feed them, he said.

India holds the world’s fifth-biggest rare earths reserves but is a only a modest producer, according to US government data. 

HBL