Trends in the development of the mining industry in Asia and Af-rica in the 21th century

The increase in political tension and deglobalization in the 2010s left an imprint on the situation in the mining industry of Asian and African countries. Previously, the critical force was formed exclusively by the complex of fuel and energy resources, but now the mining industry is becoming increasingly important for the deglobalizing global economy. This is due to the increasing demand for critical raw materials (CRMs – lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, and rare earths) needed for innovative technologies, renewable energy sources, and military equipment. Demand for these minerals is growing at a faster pace, and supply is limited. The changes taking place in the 21st century in the global mining complex cover various aspects of its evolution. The article highlights the main trends in economic, technological, and socio-political transformations. Economically, the following trends have been observed in the mining industry in Asian and African countries: an increase in demand for critical raw materials; differentiation of countries in terms of productivity and production efficiency; increased concentration of production in individual countries/regions. Technologically, trends are more intensively aimed at separating the subjects of production: on the one hand, the introduction of automation, unmanned technologies, robots, and on the other – preservation of traditional production based on manual labor. The trends in socio-political evolution are based on the shift of resource extraction to the countries of the Global South taking place against the background of increasing regionalization, the changing role of TNCs from Asian countries in the global mining complex, in particular, their expansion into the extraction of critical raw materials.