Times News NetworkRanchi/Jamshedpur: US companies are showing keen interest in exploration, mining, processing and technology support for rare (critical) minerals in Jharkhand.Chief secretary Avinash Kumar on Tuesday held a meeting with a delegation led by US consul general Kathy Giles-Diaz at his office in Ranchi, highlighting the state’s rich reserves of conventional minerals — coal, iron ore, copper, bauxite, gold and limestone — alongside more than 20 deposits of critical minerals such as lithium, titanium, vanadium, silver and galena. State mines department secretary Arwa Rajkamal, director of mines Rahul Kumar Sinha and other officials attended the meeting.“The govt invited US firms, through the US consulate general, to participate in mineral exploration, mining and value-added processing,” IPRD informed. “The state also flagged that it is engaging with leading global companies and interested firms to acquire mineral blocks via open auctions and deploy cutting-edge technologies,” it added.Officials informed that USISPA, a group of US mining companies, has already established contact with the Jharkhand govt and expressed interest in participating in the auction process, particularly in rare mineral projects.Parallelly, a US consulate delegation on Monday also visited CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory (CSIR-NML) in Jamshedpur to explore collaboration in the critical minerals space.NML director Sandip Ghosh Chowdhury presented the lab’s capabilities, followed by an exhibition on work in critical minerals, metals and advanced materials.