The European Commission adopted a first list of 47 "domestic strategic" raw material projects under the bloc's critical raw material act (CRMA). The commission estimates that the 47 projects will need €22.5bn ($24.3bn) in capital investment.
The EU's general policy is that the EU fulfils 10pc of extraction, 40pc of processing and 25pc recycling of its own strategic raw materials needs by 2030. The 47 projects, selected from a total of 170 submissions, are spread across 13 EU states — Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Poland and Romania.
Out of the 47 projects, 25 cover extraction, 24 processing, 10 recycling and two raw materials substitution. The commission also opted for 22 lithium, 12 nickel, 10 cobalt, seven manganese and 11 graphite projects. Additional strategic projects cover magnesium (one project) and tungsten (three projects).
"We do not want to replace our dependence on fossil fuels with a raw materials dependence. And Chinese lithium will not be tomorrow's Russian gas," EU industry commissioner Stephane Sejourne said. Despite the EU's raw material dependencies, Sejourne told Argus that Europe is further ahead than China and the US in terms of strategy and laws.
Sejourne added that the 47 selected projects will benefit from easier and accelerated permitting — at no more than 27 months for extraction and 15 for transformation projects. The average project usually takes 10 years, while mining projects can take anywhere between 15 and 18 years from discovery to production. Selected projects are seen by the commission as capable of production before 2030.
"So I hope the projects will be ready before 27 months," Sejourne said.
"The conclusion of the Strategic Project classification process marks a significant step toward fostering a more resilient and secure supply of critical raw materials essential for Europe's green and digital transitions, as well as the aerospace and defence sectors," Savannah Resources chief executive Emanuel Proença said, whose company's Barroso lithium project was included as one of the 47, along with several other projects in Portugal and Spain.
Stockpiling on the agenda
The commission is also collecting information on what raw materials EU states are stockpiling. Officials are aiming to make an assessment, next year, of safe levels for stockpiling. But next steps are unclear with the commission "potentially" engaging with EU states about co-ordination and information gathering. And an EU critical raw materials centre could be looking at stockpiling from next year, officials say.
The US and China also stockpile raw materials, with China's State Reserve Bureau (SRB) known to regularly stockpile cobalt, rare-earths and other materials. The US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) is also known to have stockpiles of several minor metals. The geopolitical changes ushered in by a new US administration have forced EU politicians to sharpen their stances on issues such as stockpiles in recent weeks.
