India and Australia could become key partners in the global green metals transition thanks to a new non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) agreement with Caravel Minerals and Kutch Copper – a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises.
The MoU for the Caraval copper project in Western Australia’s Yilgarn Terrane region will help accelerate development towards a final investment decision (FID) in 2026 and will help combine Caravel’s resource with Adani’s capacity for smelting in India.
The agreement also sets the stage for investment collaboration and life-of-mine offtake covering up to 100 per cent of copper concentrate output, which sits at 62,000–72,000 tonnes of payable copper every year.
Concentrate would be directly fed into Kutch Copper’s $1.8 billion copper smelter – the world’s largest single-location copper facility – in Gujarat which has an output of 500,000 tonnes per annum.
Caravel’s copper project, located around 150km northeast of Perth, is said to be one of Australia’s largest undeveloped copper resources with a potential mine life exceeding 25 years and an estimated 1.3 million tonnes of payable copper.
“Copper is the backbone of the global energy transition, and our partnership with Caravel Minerals strengthens India’s and Australia’s role in building a resilient and responsible supply chain for this vital metal,” Adani chief executive officer natural resources Vinay Prakash said.
With global copper demand projected to surge by 50 per cent by 2040 amid electrification and renewable-energy expansion, the collaboration is poised to deliver a significant contribution to critical-minerals supply chains.
“This collaboration with Adani’s Kutch Copper marks a pivotal step in realising the full potential of the Caravel Copper Project. It brings together complementary strengths – Adani’s downstream expertise and Caravel’s world-scale resource – under a shared vision for responsible, long-term copper production,” Caravel Minerals managing director Don Hyma said.
