The National Mining Agency ("ANM") published Agreement 01 of July 10th, 2023, establishing guidelines for the determination of critical minerals in Colombia (the "Agreement").
 

Article 1 of the Agreement defines the following guidelines for determining critical minerals in Colombia:

1. Sovereignty of the Colombian State over state-owned mineral resources.
2. Existence of favorable geological environments and prioritization of research.
3. Demand for minerals for the energy transition.
4. Demand for minerals for food security.
5. Demand for minerals for industrial development and public infrastructure.
6. Minerals for self-sufficiency.
7. Minerals to promote associativity.

Additionally, the document “Lineamientos para el establecimiento de Minerales Estratégicos en Colombia” (the "Guidelines"), which is an integral part of the Agreement, developed each guideline as follows:

• Under the concept of sovereignty, the authorities should ensure the availability of the minerals required for the energy transition, food security, and the necessary infrastructure to enhance the country's competitiveness and improve the quality of life for Colombians.
   
• It is necessary to ensure the availability of geoscientific information that allows the determination of the existence or presence of critical minerals in the national territory. The Colombian Metallogenic Map (2020) (https://www2.sgc.gov.co/sgc/mapas/Paginas/Mapa_metalogenico_colombia.aspx) is a key tool for this purpose.


• One of the guidelines for defining critical minerals is their importance for the development and implementation of technologies and processes related to the energy transition and the production of clean energy technologies.
  
  The International Energy Agency has identified the following minerals as required for the energy transition: copper, lithium, nickel, manganese, cobalt, graphite, chromium, molybdenum, zinc, rare earth elements, and silicon. The demand for these minerals for the transition will be determined by the pace of manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, electrical grids, batteries, and other factors according to market needs.


• Another guideline for defining critical minerals is their importance for food security. Therefore, phosphate rock and minerals such as potassium, sulfur, and magnesium are important, as they are key inputs for fertilizer production, which directly impacts the cost structure of food production in our country.


• Regarding the minerals required for industrial development and public infrastructure, the Guidelines establish the following categories:

1. Transport infrastructure: The Government must establish the minerals required to satisfy the domestic demand for materials used in the maintenance and/or construction of new transportation infrastructure.
2. Road infrastructure and construction: The development of the infrastructure sector depends on the availability of construction materials such as cement and asphalt, as well as steel for the manufacture of materials, equipment, tools, and supplies. Critical minerals for steel production include iron, metallurgical coal, and commonly used alloys that involve the addition of nickel, manganese, aluminum, copper, chromium, zinc, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, and other metals.
3. Electrical infrastructure: Copper and aluminum, along with steel, are essential for manufacturing infrastructure such as towers, transformers, wires, and cables, connecting photovoltaic and wind generation systems crucial to the energy transition.
4. Industry: Industrial minerals serve as raw materials for various industries and are the basis of numerous everyday consumer products. Industrial minerals include silica sands for glass production, limestone for lime and cement manufacturing, refractory products like magnesite, gold for electronic devices, and magnesium as a substitute for aluminum and zinc in certain industrial applications.

• To achieve self-sufficiency, it is necessary to identify the existing potential of minerals that currently experience significant imports or result in a trade deficit. In 2021, Colombia imported lignite coal, iron minerals, stone, sand, clays, lime, gypsum, kaolin, bentonite, and other non-metallic minerals, indicating a potential deficit in the domestic exploitation of these minerals.


• Associativity is considered the best path for traditional miners to overcome individual limitations and can join efforts with the support of the State, and if necessary, with the sponsorship and partnership of private investors. Establishing critical minerals and increasing their geoscientific knowledge will allow the ANM to structure areas of strategic mining reserves for formalization and strategic mining areas targeted exclusively at traditional miner associations. Minerals that bring a significant presence of traditional miners and thus are strategic for promoting associative schemes are gold, construction materials, and emeralds.

As a result of applying the outlined Guidelines, the ANM has compiled the following preliminary list of 28 critical minerals: lithium, copper, nickel, cobalt, graphite, uranium, rare earth elements, zinc, molybdenum, coltan, gold and associated minerals, platinum group metals (platinum, palladium, ruthenium), iron, manganese, metallurgical coal, phosphates, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, aluminum, construction materials, silica sands, titanium, vanadium, tungsten, limestone, gypsum, and emeralds. (Note that 10 out of these 28 minerals are declared as critical minerals in Resolution 180102 of 2012).