The Race for Critical Minerals: Lithium, Copper ,Rare Earths
Former U.S. President Joe Biden is facing a worsening health situation after his son Hunter Biden said the cancer has spread to his bones and described the disease as "very painful" and "very debilitating."
Critical minerals are now central to national security, with the IEA's 2026 outlook showing price rebounds in 2025-2026 due to tightened supply and new export restrictions. Lithium prices doubled, while cobalt increased by approximately 130%. (IEA) (Tribune India)
Is the world running out of these minerals?
No, and that is the surprising part. Estimated reserves of copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and rare earths grew by 120% from 2010 to 2025, with China and Indonesia dominating refined supply growth.
How serious is the supply risk?
Quite serious, because China's 2025 rare earth export controls disrupted automakers, risking $6.5 trillion in global production and leading to projected copper and lithium supply deficits lasting until 2035.
There is progress too. Public finance commitments more than quadrupled between 2023 and 2025 to $65 billion, and the top supplier's share of rare earth refining fell from over 90% in 2023 to 85% in 2025, with a projected drop to 70% by 2035.
IEA chief Fatih Birol says diversified supply may cost more, but it is "a form of economic insurance against major supply risks". Critical minerals constitute about 25% of battery cell costs but only 3% of an electric vehicle's price. The focus should shift to establishing refineries and magnet factories, as current rare earth refining capacity meets only two-thirds of projected mine output by 2035.
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