Author: Obert Bore
Obert Bore is CGSP's Critical Minerals Editor who is trained as a lawyer and has been working on the intersection of mining and trade and human rights with a focus on Chinese investments in Africa. Before joining CGSP, he had been leading the Responsible Investments and Business Program at the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), where he worked on promoting responsible and sustainable investments in Zimbabwe’s mining sector. Before that he was a Chinese Investments Fellow for ZELA where he supported affected communities through legal and non-legal strategies and advocated for the adoption of responsible mining standards. His research interests include the Chinese investments in mining, environmental social and governance standards and business and human rights. He holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree (cum laude) in International Trade Law from the University of Cape Town and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree (cum laude) from the University of Venda.
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China Corners the Market on a Little-Known but Crucial Tech Mineral
A Chinese mining and materials giant, Sinomine Resource Group, is ramping up its dominance in the critical minerals sector, with a $400 million investment in Zimbabwe for the construction of the world’s second cesium smelting plant. The move positions Sinomine ...
Q&A: What Lessons Can Zimbabwe Learn From Indonesia in Its Quest to Move up the Lithium Value Chain?
Indonesia is often cited as a model for countries seeking to extract more value from their mineral wealth. This is because Jakarta was a pioneer in using export bans to compel investors to invest in the value-added processing of the resource before export. In 2020, Indonesia banned ...
China’s Copper Smelting Boom Backfires Amid Global Supply Strains
Over the past decade, China positioned itself as a leader in copper refining, accounting for more than half of global capacity. Its strategy designed to secure control over key critical minerals meant to power everything from clean energy grids to electric vehicles, defense equipment, and construction ...
Lithium Prices Are Crashing, But Some Producers Are Doubling Down. Why?
There is a puzzling shift unfolding in the global lithium market. Prices have collapsed by over 70% from their 2022 highs to around $12,000 per tonne, and yet, against all market logic, some Chinese lithium giants are not retreating. Instead, ...
China’s Critical Minerals Lead Widens as Rivals Struggle to Keep Pace
Despite growing talk of securing alternative supply chains, China has entrenched itself as the world’s undisputed leader in critical minerals, widening a lead that few anticipated would stretch so far, so fast. From lithium to nickel to rare earths, China’s ...
Can Africa Move Up the Critical Mineral Value Chain? The Hard Truth Behind a Familiar Chorus
As China opens its doors wider to African exports, extending duty-free market access to all 53 diplomatic partners on the continent, the announcement was met with applause in ministerial corridors from Nairobi to Niamey. For many, the new policy represents another chance for Africa to claim ...
Critical Minerals Weekly: China’s Rare Earth Reset, Copper Overcapacity, and Zimbabwe’s Big Lithium Gamble
This is a free preview of the upcoming Critical Minerals Weekly Digest, part of the new CGSP Intelligence service launching in Summer 2025. After months of strategic restrictions, China has agreed to resume rare earth exports to the U.S. as ...
Critical Minerals Weekly: China’s Rare Earth Curbs, EV Delays, and Global Supply Chain Scramble
This is a free preview edition of the new Critical Minerals Weekly Digest that will be available to subscribers of the new CGSP Intelligence service that will launch during the Summer of 2025. Topline Insight
Europe’s Green Mining Regulations May Push Africa Closer to China
While Europe’s environmental policy to limit carbon emissions is well-meaning and aims to fight climate change, it could actually make things worse for Africa. Instead of helping the continent to develop its industries, EU policy might instead give China more control over access to valuable mineral resources, ...
Chinese Lithium Investors in Zimbabwe Raise Critical Concerns for Policymakers
Since 2021, Zimbabwe’s lithium sector has attracted over $1.2 billion in investments, generating more than 5,000 jobs and positioning the country as a key player in the global lithium value chain. Chinese lithium mining giants, including Bikita Minerals, Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe (PLZ), Sabi Star, and Kamativi Mining ...
Critical Mineral Resource Nationalism: What It Means for China and the Global South
Driven by the accelerating global energy transition, resource-rich countries are actively asserting greater control over their critical minerals—lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and rare earths—through a policy shift known as resource nationalism. While the framing of resource nationalism came from global north countries that dislike policies by ...
Ignoring China Won’t Help African Countries Move up the Critical Mineral Value Chain
Last week, African mining ministers and global leaders gathered in Paris to discuss the continent’s role in the future of critical minerals and responsible sourcing. At the OECD’s High-Level Dialogue on Africa, one message came through loud and clear: Africa must move beyond simply exporting raw ...