Race to Secure Copper: Decoding Recent Moves by India, China, and US

ON FEBRUARY 27, the government announced the securing of a 9,000-sq-km block to explore copper and cobalt in a region in Zambia known for high-grade deposits.

- AGGAM WALIA

With production in domestic mines faltering, the project is a crucial step for India to establish overseas mining operations.

On February 25, the White House warned in a fact sheet on "threat to national security from imports of copper" that the "overreliance on foreign copper" could "jeopardize US defense capabilities, infrastructure development, and technological innovation".

On February 17, Bloomberg reported that with supply of copper ore tightening, China is moving to rein in smelting overcapacity—companies looking to build new smelters must secure long-term contracts with copper mines, many of which are in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Chile, and Peru. China controls half of the world's smelting and refining capacity.