Japan in talks with India to explore for rare earths, sources say

NEW DELHI: Japan ​is in talks with India to jointly explore rare earth deposits in the desert state ‌of Rajasthan, two people familiar with the discussions said, as Tokyo seeks to reduce reliance on China for supplies critical to magnet manufacturing.

Last month, India’s Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy said three hard rock rare earth deposits containing 1.29 million metric ​tons of rare earth oxides had been identified in Rajasthan and Gujarat state in western India.

Following ​a preliminary pact on critical minerals that Japan and India signed last year, ⁠Tokyo has expressed interest in the Rajasthan deposits and plans to send experts to the site, said ​the sources, who are directly involved in the decision-making. They declined to be named as the deliberations were ​not public.

They did not say when those experts were due to arrive.

In Rajasthan, the Japanese government would be looking to provide technology for extraction as well as funding in exchange for a stable offtake of rare earths to be taken to ​Japan, the sources said, adding that hard rock deposits required extraction techniques that India does not have currently.

India’s ​Ministry of Mines and the Japanese embassy did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comment.

Japan is examining mining projects worldwide ‌to diversify ⁠mineral supplies, including rare earths, Naoki Kobayashi, deputy director at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), told Reuters. However, Kobayashi denied any discussion on specific corporate partnerships or technology provision in Rajasthan.

Like Japan, India wants to cut dependence on Chinese imports by developing industrial-scale facilities to process rare earth elements to high purity ​levels, again with Japan ​potentially offering the necessary ⁠technology.

Rare earths are essential for permanent magnets – used in electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, fighter jets and drones – critical for India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

Last week, ​China prohibited the export of dual-use items – materials that can serve both civilian and military ​purposes – to 20 ⁠Japanese entities that Beijing says supply Japan’s military, in the latest escalation of a dispute with Tokyo.

The move effectively cuts Japanese companies off from the seven rare earth elements and associated materials currently on China’s dual-use control ⁠list, along ​with a swathe of other controlled critical minerals.

Apart from rare ​earths, Japan is seeking collaboration with Indian companies to explore lithium, copper and cobalt in Africa, one of the sources said.