Measures to promote the resilience ofcritical mineral supplies
Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security ；JOGMEC
Research Division Director, Metal Strategy Department
Takeshi Harada

JOGMEC Metals Unit’s Activity1

 About JOGMEC: A policy implementation organization under the Ministry of Economy,
Trade and Industry, Japan. JOGMEC has a variety of support tools for Japanese companies’
activities to secure the stable supply of mineral resources.
 JOGMEC’s support tools cover each stages as below. JOGMEC has previously been relatively
focused on upstream projects.
 In recent years, the system has been extended to provide midstream support for smelting
and refining as well.
Rare Metals

JOGMEC Financial Support Achievements

2• JOGMEC provides financial assistance when Japanese companies enter mineral resource
development projects. Achievements to date include as below.
Lithium

Rare Earth

Niobium

PGM/Cu/Ni

Argentina/Jujuy

Australia/West Australia

Brazil/Minas Gerais

South Africa/Limpopo

OlarozMt. Weld

Araxa

Platreef

Toyota Tsusho

Sojitz Corp.

Nippon Steel Corp., JFE steel, Sojitz

ITOCHU Corp., JGC Holdings Corp.

Partner etc.

Partner：Allkem, Jujuy Energia y Mineria

Investing Company：Lynas

Investing Company：CBMM

Partner：Ivanhoe Mines, BEE

Support tool

Debt guarantee

Equity capital

Equity capital, Debt guarantee

Equity capital

Effective date

2012/92011/3

2011/3

2011/8

MetalProjectJapanesecompany・Extraction of lithium from brine and・REE production started since・Brazil holds the majority of theproduction of lithium carbonate.

2011.

world's niobium reserves, and CBMM are large and its thickness makes

・Production to commenced in 2014

・Japanese side has exclusive

owns almost all assets.

mechanisation possible.

・JOGMEC has provided support frommarket right in Japan.

・Niobium is used as an additive in・Copper and Nickel are produced inProject

the stage of mineral resource

・This project supplys Light REE

the production of high-grade andaddition to PGMs.

Overview

assessment studies and infrastructure

which is main raw materials of

special steel products.

・Lamp-up of production arefeasibility studies.

magnet for motor.

・CBMM is a mining company

planned in early 2025.

・Lithium hydroxide plant in Japan has ・Heavy REE supply which is heavily established in 1955 with a niobium
been launched in 2022.

dependent on China will be planned and refining plant.
from this project.

・The grade and size of the deposit

Joint Venture Exploration to explore new projects

3• JOGMEC conducts exploration projects jointly with junior exploration companies, mining companies
and state-owned corporations to identify promising projects. JOGMEC’s position is transferred toJapanese corporations and promote continuous exploration and development.
• Since 2003, 138 projects have been implemented and 17 projects have been transferred toJapanese companies.
Joint Venture Exploration structure

Drilling site in the Andean region of South America•

The structure is an unincorporated joint venture. The JV partner will be the operator and JOGMEC
contributes to the exploration costs and farm in of the project. If the project get successful result,JOGMEC will transfer its position to Japanese companies through an open bidding process.

Topics of JOGMEC’s JV Exploration projects

4• On 29 March 2023, JOGMEC signed JV agreement with FPX, a Canadian exploration junior. Ittargets the Awarwa ore in Canada BC, an under-utilized resource that is different from the existing
nickel ore type.
• On 9th June 2023, JOGMEC provides equity support to the Waterberg PGM project at Limpopo
province in South Africa which had been transferred from JOGMEC to Hanwa Co., Ltd.
Location Map of JOGMEC’s projects

Crow Nickel project
Project Name Crow Nickel project
JV PartnerLocation

Waterberg PGM project
Project Name Waterberg PGM project
JV Partner
LocationTargetPlatinum Group Metals (TSX-V)

Limpopo, South Africa

high-quality PGM deposits

TargetFPX Nickel Corp. (TSX-V)

British Columbia, Canada
Awaruite Nickel depositJapanese imports of lithium materials

5Hi-Ni LiBs’ market has grown up and lithium hydroxide has increased rapidly in Japanese demand.
Chinese share of Li hydroxide in import is more than 80%.
Chile Russia
Li Hydroxide
Japanese imports of lithium materials

USA13%China

Li Carbonate
China
10%

Argentine
16%

Chile※JOGMEC

More in-depth initiatives for resilience

6As part of Economic Security Promotion, a major new grant programme for new upstream andmidstream projects will be launched in 2023.
 Battery minerals (lithium, nickel, graphite, etc.) and rare earths were initially selected as target
minerals, with gallium and germanium recently added.
 Conditions for eligible projects include the acquisition of mineral off-take and the supply of a fixed
quantity of production to Japan.
 Mine development costs are rising due to the deepening and deepening of target areas and thedecline in ore grades, as well as additional costs for environmental protection and human rights
issues.
 With other countries competing to secure concessions due to unprofitable investments, more indepth support measures were needed.
 The scope includes not only Upstream projects, but also Midstream, a project to develop
processing technology; the first project selected was a domestic pilot plant project for waste LiB.
Use multilateral cooperation frameworks to explore new projects
 Through the Mineral Security Partnership (MSP), joint projects are sought to diversify the supply
chain for critical minerals. It also aims to promote high ESG standards in project implementation tocounter the monopoly situation caused by production with environmental impacts.