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Battery Mineral Diplomacy Monitor

Battery mineral diplomacy is the political process by which mineral-deficient countries seek to secure their supply through agreements with mineral-rich countries

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About

Transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) generates a vast demand for minerals required to produce the batteries and their components. The production (and reserves) of these minerals is limited, unevenly distributed across the world or both, which in part lends them the description of ‘critical minerals’. Furthermore, state ownership of natural resources (mines and mineral ores) accords substantive control to mineral-rich governments over the extraction, sale, pricing, and export of their minerals. These two factors in combination render the marketplace inadequate as a mechanism in itself to ensure that supply meets demand. Establishing long term security of mineral supplies, therefore, warrants state intervention. Accordingly, the global race to secure the supply of battery minerals has given rise to battery mineral diplomacy.

Battery mineral diplomacy is the political process by which mineral-deficient countries seek to secure their supply through agreements with mineral-rich countries. Jurisdictions have principally three options for securing minerals through diplomacy:

Type 1 Agreement: Free Trade Agreement (FTA) or Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that includes a section on (critical) minerals

Type 2 Agreement: Mineral-specific legally enforceable agreements

Type 3 Agreement: Legally NON-enforceable agreement such as Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for bilateral cooperation and exploration on (critical) minerals

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Diplomatic arrangements for battery minerals – a snapshot

Battery Mineral Diplomacy – A snapshot of existing agreements (all types)

* Greater width of connecting lines indicates the agreement cover multiple battery minerals

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The state of Battery Mineral Diplomacy (2026)

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Battery Mineral Agreements Tracker

10000ft for Data Dashboard: Battery Mineral Final

Last updated: 31 May 2026

*TYPE 1: Free Trade Arrangement/ Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with a legally binding section/ chapter on critical minerals

TYPE 2: (Legally-binding) Critical mineral agreement

TYPE 3: MoU or equivalent for cooperation on critical minerals/ (Legally NON-binding) Section or chapter on cooperation on critical minerals within an FTA/ CEPA

*List of mineral producing/ rich countries only includes those that account for at least 2% of the global production/ reserve of the mineral

*List of agreements may not be exhaustive

For any queries, please contact research@thepolitics.org