The request for certain raw materials It is destined to increase. By now fundamental for the defense sector and beyond, they are lithium, cobalt and other substances with a high risk of supply due to a high concentration of the offer in a few third countries. For this, Europe has reopened the projects for the extraction of these: from 47 selected projects, now they have become 60. The 13 new projects are located outside the EU, even in overseas countries or territories.
EU regulation on raw materials
The European Union has adopted Regulation 2024/1252 Critical Raw Materials (CRM) Act, which became operational on May 23, 2024. Here is a list of 34 raw materials, these 17 are considered strategic as crucial for the double green and digital transition and for the defense and hero industry.
The regulation sets some objectives to be achieved by 2030 In addition, you want to diversify EU imports, so that no third country exceeds 65% of the annual consumption of the Union for each strategic raw material.
EU projects
The green light of the European Commission at the first block of 47 strategic projects had arrived in March, with the intent to strengthen the internal skills of strategic raw materials, which in turn will strengthen the value chain of European raw materials and diversify the sources of supply. Projects that to become operational require a total capital investment of 22.5 billion euros.
In particular, strategic projects are located in 13 Member States EU: Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Estonia, Czechia, Greece, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Poland and Romania. These are projects concerning one or more segments of the value chain of raw materials. The projects concern:
- 25 extraction activities,
- 24 transformation activities,
- 10 recycling activities
- 2 of replacement of raw materials.
Projects concerning 14 of the 17 strategic raw materials listed in the legislation on critical raw materials. Among the selected projects, 22 concern lithium, 12 nickel, 10 cobalt, 7 manganese and 11 graphite.
The new projects
Thus we arrive at the most recent development, with the European Commission who has adopted the first list of 13 strategic projects On the critical raw materials located outside the EU, even in overseas countries or territories. Among these, seven are found in Canada, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine and Zambia, nations with which the EU has a strategic partnership on the chains of the value of raw materials. The other strategic projects are instead found in New Caledonia, Brazil, Madagascar, Malawi, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
The situation in Italy
In the subject of raw materials, Italy does not make the role of master. At the beginning of the week, the “Report for a national security strategy” was presented, where it identifies critical issues such as the supply of raw materials.
The mines still active in Italy are 76of these 22 they deal with the 34 critical raw materials for the European Union and which are indispensable for defense. In 20 of these, feldspar is extracted for the ceramic industry and in two the fluorite used in the steel, aluminum, glass, electronics and refrigeration industry.
Feldspar And fluoriteto date, the only criticism cultivated in Italy are therefore; But the current research permits, the data on the mines active in the past and those on previous and recent research, document the potential presence of various critical and strategic raw materials. Like lithium, discovered in important quantities in the Tuscan-Lazio-Lazio-Campani geothermal fluids and several other minerals from which metals are produced (copper, cobalt, antimony, manganese, titanium, stunning, tungsten, aluminum, rare earth, gallium, Germanio etc.) indispensable for the double green and digital transition.
