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Save to read list Published by Will Owen , Editor Global Mining Review, Friday, 16 September 2022 09:00
“Lithium and rare earths will soon be more important than oil and gas. Our demand for rare earths alone will increase fivefold by 2030. […] We must avoid becoming dependent again, as we did with oil and gas. […] We will identify strategic projects all along the supply chain, from extraction to refining, from processing to recycling. And we will build up strategic reserves where supply is at risk. This is why today I am announcing a European Critical Raw Materials Act.”
In her 2022 State of the European Union address on 14 September 2022, European Commission President von der Leyen announced plans for a Critical Raw Materials Act. The act aims to help boost critical mineral supplies:
“Without secure and sustainable access to the necessary raw materials, our ambition to become the first climate neutral continent is at risk.
“In fact, without critical raw materials, we will not lead the digital decade and will not be able to develop our defence capabilities either.
“For many of these essential raw materials, the global market will not be able to cater for the rapidly increasing demand. In light of the risk of structural supply shortages, trade diversification alone – although necessary – will not suffice.
“We know it. Our systemic rivals know it. So do our partners. And, most of all, our industry has come to realise it too. Our twin green and digital transition will live or die through the functioning of our supply chains.
“Take China, with its quasi-monopoly on rare earths and permanent magnets and prices rising by 50 – 90% in the past year alone. Supply of raw materials has become a real geopolitical tool. We saw it in 2010, when China slashed rare earth exports worldwide and entirely cut Japan off to pressure Tokyo to release a detained Chinese fishing trawler captain.
“But let’s take a look at our so-called “like-minded” partners, namely USA, Japan or South Korea: they are all deploying sizable support and investments to lessen their dependence on the extraction, processing and recycling of critical raw materials.
“As a result, we are experiencing a global race for the supply and recycling of critical raw materials.
“This is a major concern for all our industrial ecosystems, pushing them to act, sometimes in a scattered manner: last month, two leading German automakers signed a partnership with the Canadian government, notably deepening cooperation on sustainable critical mineral supply chain.
“To act fast, with ambition, and according to our European values and standards, we will put forward a European Critical Raw Materials Act.”
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/16092022/european-commission-announces-critical-raw-materials-act/
ioneer and Caterpillar have completed a definitive agreement regarding autonomous haul trucks at Rhyolite Ridge.
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