Bruselas apoyará proyectos de cobre cruzado y circular para obtener materias primas críticas.

The European Commission will support two sites in Andalusia, copper cross and curriculum processing in the province of Seville, and the Atlantic copper circular recycling project to contribute to the provision of copper, nickel, and platinum in the province of Huelva as part of its strategy to obtain critical raw materials to reduce dependence on other countries.

In total, the European Commission will support 47 strategic projects for the exploitation of critical raw materials in the European Union territory in Spain, focusing on Cobalt, Lithium, or Magnesium, to provide the European continent with the aim of improving supply, reducing dependence on countries like China, and strengthening European raw materials.

The list prepared by Brussels considers mining projects in 13 member states of the bloc, covering 14 critical materials out of the 17 established as priorities in its directive. Of the total identified projects, 22 initiatives focus on lithium, 12 on nickel, 11 on graphite, with another 10 on cobalt and 7 on manganese, key elements for the automotive industry and electric batteries.

During a press conference in the capital of the community, the Vice President of Industrial Strategy of the European Commission, Stéphane Sejourne, argued that without critical raw materials, «decarbonization cannot happen,» emphasizing the essential nature of domestic production to prevent the EU from diversifying its supply and not relying on Chinese hydrocarbons.

«To prevent Chinese lithium from being tomorrow’s Russian gas, the European Union has established a legislative framework to avoid this addiction, and now we need to extract more and open up more in Europe,» said Sejourne, who has emphasized the «consolidation of the European valley of critical materials» to achieve the goals set until 2030.

However, the French commissioner acknowledged that there is «political work» needed to ensure that mining exploitation is «socially acceptable,» stressing that political leaders must educate and bring the narrative to the national and European general interest. «You have to do political work. This means being in contact with companies, obviously, with employees, but also with people,» he admitted.

Therefore, the plan is to admit different phases of the value chain, with all identified projects, 25 mineral extraction activities considered, while 24 focus on material processing, 10 on recycling, and two on replacing critical raw materials.

This list of projects will benefit from coordinated support from the Commission, member states, and financial institutions to facilitate their implementation, considering the estimated investment of approximately 22,000 million needed for the projects’ launch. They may also have simplified provisions regarding permits to ensure predictability for initiative promoters.

Behind this list is the community executive’s intention to ensure the security of the supply of strategic raw materials. The projects were selected to be «technically viable or at a reasonable time, to show planned production volumes and execute sustainably.»

This list of EU strategic mining projects complies with the Critical Raw Materials Law approved in 2023, with Brussels aiming to diversify imports of critical materials to ensure that by 2030, the EU does not receive more than 65% of them from a single third country like China. Currently, the bloc obtains 97% of its magnesium from China, while 63% of the world’s cobalt, used in batteries, is extracted in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The European strategy sets 2030 as the year for the EU’s capacity to approach or obtain at least 10% of the national demand for strategic materials for mining and extraction, at least 40% for transformation and refining, and at least 15% for recycling.

This initiative can also benefit from projects in third countries, a list that is currently unknown, but Sejourne has indicated will be published in the coming weeks, not ruling out exploitation in Ukraine and Greenland. «This is part of our global strategies, and the goal is also to reduce risks through diversification,» he said, without entering into controversy according to the plans of the United States for the autonomous Danish territory.

Of the total projects selected by Brussels, seven are in Spain, largely related to mineral extraction. Specifically, it identifies the Doade mine in Galicia and the Las Navas mining project in Extremadura for lithium extraction; the P6 metals project in Extremadura for tungsten extraction and processing; and the El Moto Mining Project in Castilla-La Mancha, focusing on tungsten.

Additionally, other priority sites in Spain include the initiative for copper extraction and processing in Andalusia; the Aguablanca Mine for the supply of cobalt, copper, and nickel in Extremadura; and the circular recycling project, based in Andalusia, to contribute to the provision of copper, nickel, and platinum metals.

FUENTE