The text of the following statement was issued by the Governments of the United States of America and Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the European Union . European Union following the conclusion of the Mineral Safety Partnership ministerial meetings in London.
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Today, Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) partners held a directors' meeting in London, the world capital of mining and metals finance, on the sidelines of London Metal Exchange (LME) Week 2023. The The topic of the meeting was responsible investment. in critical minerals, with the key objective of strengthening collaboration between the MSP, like-minded partners and the global financial community. Nusrat Ghani, Minister of State for Business and Trade of the United Kingdom, and Josรฉ W. Fernรกndez, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment of the United States, co-chaired the meeting.
The session brought together all 14 MSP partners, representatives of emerging mineral economies and a range of private sector organisations. Representatives from Australia, Brazil, Canada, European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Norway, Republic of Korea, Sweden, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States and Zambia participated. The MSP partners were joined by members of the financial community, including the Church of England Pension Fund, Standard Chartered and the ICMM.
The MSP aims to catalyze public and private sector investments to build diverse, safe and responsible global critical mineral supply chains. Building on the MSP's commitment to high environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards in the global minerals sector, as expressed in the Principles for responsible supply chains of critical minerals , the MSP has published a public statement jointly signed with private sector financiers confirming the parties' intention to deepen collaboration to boost responsible investment in critical minerals projects. Governments, project developers and investors have an important role to play in de-risking and financing critical minerals projects that increase global production while promoting supply chain diversification, protecting the environment environment and improve local communities.
At the meeting, the MSP partners confirmed that they are working to advance the following projects that have high potential to contribute to the development of responsible critical minerals supply chains, demonstrate high ESG standards, facilitate the global energy transition and are collaborating with relevant government authorities. or financial agencies of MSP partners:
- Eleven projects in upstream mining and mineral extraction, four projects in midstream mineral processing and two projects in recycling and recovery;
- A project focused mainly on lithium; three on graphite; two nickel; one on cobalt; one on manganese; two on copper; and seven on rare earths;
- Five projects in America, seven projects in Africa, three projects in Europe and two projects in Asia-Pacific.
Notable milestones were achieved for the following projects:
- Chvaletice Manganese Project โ This project supports the shift towards a circular economy and contributes to site remediation efforts by delivering responsibly produced manganese for the electric vehicle industry through the reprocessing of manganese in mine tailings in Czechia. Implemented by Canadian company Euro Manganese, the project will produce high-purity electrolytic metallic manganese needed for the battery supply chain. Companies in MSP partner countries are developing purchasing agreements for the material, including cathode active material (โCAMโ) and precursor product (โpCAMโ) producers, battery manufacturers and automobile manufacturers. Financial support is provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) InnoEnergy. The EU and Canada participate in this project through the MSP and their bilateral strategic raw materials partnership. Euro Manganese is also preparing a feasibility study for a dissolution plant in Bรฉcancour, Canada, to produce a high-purity manganese sulfate monohydrate electrolyte powder from high-purity metallic manganese.
- Queensland Pacific Metals (QPM): QPM's Townsville Energy Chemical Hub (TECH) project will build nickel processing capacity in northern Australia, diversifying half the supply chain for nickel, an essential mineral for electric vehicle batteries . QPM has received approximately A$1.4 billion (US$900 million) in conditional debt commitments from financial agencies in Australia, Canada and Germany. QPM has already secured offtake agreements for 100 percent of nickel and cobalt sales over the life of the project with partners such as General Motors of the United States and LG Energy Solution and POSCO of the Republic of Korea.
- Twigg Exploration and Mining: The Board of Directors of the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) approved a loan of up to $150 million in financing to Twigg Exploration and Mining to finance investments in the graphite mining and processing operation of the company in Balama, Mozambique. . The loan will increase production and diversify the global supply chain for graphite, which is a critical mineral for a range of clean energy and advanced technology products. DFC support will also lead to job creation and investment in local infrastructure, while ensuring high environmental and social standards that are essential for responsible mining. This investment complements an investment by Twigg's parent company, Syrah Resources, in the Vidalia graphite active anode material processing facility in Louisiana, which received a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy. These efforts represent a contribution key to the MSP and the US critical minerals strategy, working together with a strong private sector partner.
This list will be updated periodically.
In addition to the above projects, the MSP continually evaluates potential investment opportunities in all eligible markets that would support the diversification of critical mineral supply chains and the development of associated infrastructure.
The MSP remains committed to leveraging the collective financial and diplomatic resources of its 14 partners to support strategic projects and project developers that exemplify the partners' principles. MSP partners will continue to work alongside a wide range of non-MSP partners and private sector entities to catalyze support for these projects and shape the global debate around critical mineral supply chains.
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Visit the Department of State's MSP webpage for more information: https://www.state.gov/minerals-security-partnership/.
For media inquiries, please contact: ENR-PD-Clearances@state.gov.
