MINEX Forum

Tag: Green Transition

  • EU moves to cut dependency on China for battery and solar panel materials

    EU moves to cut dependency on China for battery and solar panel materials

    The European Parliament, in a significant move, has voted to reduce regulatory burdens and diversify the sources of critical raw materials like lithium and silicon. This plan aims to secure a steady supply of these materials, which are essential for the production of solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, and other crucial elements of the EU’s green transition.

    By approving this act with an overwhelming majority of 515 votes in favor and 34 against, the European Parliament seeks to decrease its reliance on a single country for more than 65% of any strategic raw material by 2030. The details of this act will now undergo negotiations between the parliament and the council.

    Nicola Beer, a German MEP from the liberal Renew Europe group, who was responsible for the proposal, expressed that the European Parliament has taken a clear stance on the security of supply, emphasizing the path towards European sovereignty and competitiveness. The EU’s shift towards clean energy necessitates access to critical raw materials like lithium and silicon, as they are vital for electric vehicle batteries and solar panel semiconductors. Presently, the EU depends on a small number of countries, including China, as suppliers.

    Hildegard Bentele, a German MEP from the center-right European People’s Party, stressed the importance of increasing the supply of reliable sources for raw materials, stating that electric mobility cannot thrive without batteries, and batteries cannot be produced without an adequate supply of lithium. She emphasized the need for a credible and strategic raw materials policy to achieve this goal.

    The newly proposed plan establishes targets for the extraction, processing, and recycling of critical raw materials. By 2030, the EU aims to have the capacity to extract at least 10% of its demand and process 50% of its demand for these materials. The plan also includes provisions allowing for up to 20% of new processing capacity to come from partnerships with emerging markets. Furthermore, the recycling capacity is expected to reach 45% for the collection, sorting, and processing of strategic materials from waste.

    Mohammed Chahim, a Dutch MEP from the center-left Socialists and Democrats, highlighted the potential to reduce import demand through improved material efficiency and recycling. He noted that the revised plan expands the scope of national circularity plans to encompass more reuse, refurbishment, and recycling, in comparison to the original proposal put forth by the European Commission.

    According to the International Energy Agency’s net-zero emissions scenario, global demand for key critical minerals, including nickel, cobalt, lithium, copper, and neodymium, is projected to grow by 1.5 to seven times by the end of the decade. This underscores the urgency for the EU to diversify its sources of these materials.

    Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine exposed the EU’s overreliance on Russian gas imports, European politicians and businesses have been actively seeking alternative suppliers for key minerals. Markus Beyrer, the head of the industry lobby group BusinessEurope, acknowledged the European Parliament’s recognition of the importance of securing and diversifying the supply of critical raw materials. He particularly welcomed the support for streamlined permitting processes, reduced bureaucratic obstacles, and the focus on strengthening partnerships with trading partners.

    However, some environmentalists have raised concerns regarding the act, fearing that it may lead to poorly regulated mines in countries like Finland, which is rich in critical minerals, thereby posing risks to the environment. They have criticized the proposal for expediting the issuance of permits without adequately raising the environmental standards that mining companies must adhere to.

    Satu Jaatinen, a board member of MiningWatch Finland, an environmental nonprofit organization, emphasized that mines and the battery industry can be made sustainable by adopting existing technologies. She expressed disappointment that the industry is unwilling to make the additional investments required for sustainability, asserting that mines should reflect their true costs.

    The negotiations and implementation of this act will play a significant role in shaping the EU’s approach to securing critical raw materials while balancing environmental concerns and sustainability.

  • Belgium leads the way in rare earth metals recycling

    Belgium leads the way in rare earth metals recycling

    Belgium is a European leader in recycling, one of the few nations to meet recycling targets set out by the EU. Other than household and commercial waste, Belgian recycling plants are now helping to reduce Europe’s dependence on foreign minerals.

    Rare earth metals, commonly used in the production of high-tech goods, are desperately needed for the European economy. China has a monopoly on the supply of these metals, producing up to 97% of the world’s supply.

    In July, China placed export restrictions on gallium and germanium metals, which are indispensable for the production of advanced chips.

    China accounts for about 80% of the global production of gallium, which is used in integrated circuits, LEDs and solar panels, among others. The country also dominates the production of germanium, which is used in the production of fibre-optic cables and infrared applications.

    The European Commission is concerned that restrictions on exports of certain rare earth metals will impact EU supply chains, especially within the context of growing demand for these metals for the green transition. It wants to reduce dependence on third countries such as China to 65% for imports of 18 critical resources.

     

    Rare metals from scrap

    Belgian companies want to play a role in the transition away from reliance on rare earth metals imports. Even if Europe is not well-suited for the extraction of these precious metals, it can play a role in reducing imports, notably through recycling.

    One factory in Liège is one of the very few places in Europe to process metallurgy-related waste and recover the valuable rare earth metals. Hydrometal has been extracting gallium and germanium from waste for nearly 20 years. However, this is no simple process.

    “It’s very precise, difficult to make profitable, very competitive, and you can’t find a lot of raw materials on the market. It really requires specific knowledge and specific chemistry. Our factory is the only one in Wallonia. Today, there are two actors in Belgium who can do it, and only two actors in Europe too,” Phillipe Henry, administrator of Hydrometal, told RTL Info.

    Recent Chinese export restrictions have caused prices on the market to skyrocket. The current market price for gallium is $614 per kg, and $2,716 per kg for germanium. Faced with these rising prices, recycling has become a more profitable endeavour.

    “We are contacted almost every day to be able to respond to these challenges. They will not be easy, because we have to remain competitive, answer also have to see if it can be maintained in the long-term,” Henry noted.

    For now, Belgian companies are focused on the extraction of rare earth minerals from waste in the metallurgy industry. Granted, much of our tech and smartphones contain highly sought after rare earth metals, but these amounts are still too small to be profitable for major recycling companies.

    The amounts contained in phones amount to just a few grams per tonne, and it is not currently viable to extract gallium, germanium, or indium from them, at least in Belgium.

    While recycling plays an important role in reducing dependence on Chinese exports, Europe may soon switch to encouraging their extraction from European soil. Currently, no rare earth metals are mined in Europe.

    But new studies have revealed massive deposits of valuable rare earth metals, which could feasibly be extracted. In Sweden, mineral group LKAB discovered an untapped reserve of more than 10 million tonnes of oxides, the largest known deposit of its kind in Europe.

    The EU will reflect on the possibility of the opening of new rare earth metal mines in Europe, but will likely still face resistance from locals due to environmental concerns. The largest potential extraction site for Europe is at Kvanefjeld in Greenland, but extraction has been prevented by indigenous groups and local residents.

    The need to find new solutions is growing. Last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen predicted that “Lithium and rare earth metals will soon be more important than oil and gas.”

  • Explained: The EU’s handicap in the global race for critical raw materials

    Explained: The EU’s handicap in the global race for critical raw materials

    The EU is highly dependent on third countries for the raw materials needed to engineer its energy transition and digital transformation.

    Russia’s war in Ukraine and the need to wean itself off fossil fuels in order to reach climate targets have prompted the EU to accelerate its green transition in recent months but also forced it to acknowledge its dependencies over access to critical raw materials.

    In the global race for raw materials, the EU faces multiple challenges.

    The first one is China, which recently started restricting exports of gallium and germanium, two metals essential for the production of semiconductors, in response to Western curbs on Beijing’s access to micro-processing technology.

    The EU considers both materials of high strategic importance. As well as semiconductors and other electronic devices, they are used for military applications such as missile defence and radar systems.

    Beijing’s restrictions come as a stark warning as the EU attempts to diversify and boost domestic supply of raw materials to reduce dependency on third countries.

    Reliance on ‘low-governance’ countries

    But diversifying supply chains could mean the EU has to source these materials from countries that don’t adhere to the same standards.

    Recent data suggests the EU’s supply is highly dependent on countries that have a low governance level, based on indicators including political stability, rule of law and corruption control.

    The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), adopted in March this year, stipulates that EU strategic projects to scale up supply must be assessed taking into account all aspects of sustainability, including environmental protection, socially responsible practices and respect for human rights such as the rights of women.

    But many countries feeding EU supply are not aligned with European values. This raises concerns about the impact on the local communities where materials are mined, as well as the potential exploitation of natural resources.

    For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose governance indicators are among the lowest in the world, supplies 63% of the EU’s cobalt, which is essential for manufacturing batteries for electrical vehicles.

    Diversifying supply a challenge

    The EU is also highly dependent on single countries for key materials such as Magnesium (China, 97%), Lithium (Chile, 97%), Iridium (South Africa, 93%) and Niobium (Brazil, 92%). These dependencies make supply chains vulnerable.

    The Critical Raw Materials Act aims to ensure no third country provides more than 65% of the Union’s annual consumption of any raw material.

    But diversifying supply is complex when refineries of many essential materials are monopolised by one or more global powers. China dominates the refining market for many critical raw materials.

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing energy crisis has shown the acute dangers of over-reliance for supplies of raw materials. China’s increasingly antagonistic stance and the political instability in many African countries have also served as reminders of the fragility of the EU’s trading relationships.

    A spiralling global demand

    The demand for raw materials is growing steeply, as developed countries race to digitalise and decarbonise their economies. This can only happen with sufficient supply of raw materials, meaning countries must scale up extracting, refining and recycling operations.

    The global demand for lithium, for example, is set to increase a staggering 89-fold by 2050, according to the European Commission. Demand for gallium will multiply 17-fold during the same time.

    The Critical Raw Materials Act sets targets for the Union to extract 10%, process 40% and recycle 15% of its annual consumption of raw materials by 2030.

    To meet these targets and compete on the global stage, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the EU needs to speed up investments in research and development, recognising that the bloc’s global share of R&D expenditure has fallen 10% in the last 20 years.

  • Europe needs to embrace green mining for the sake of its energy transition goals

    Europe needs to embrace green mining for the sake of its energy transition goals

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    In order to move to using 100% renewable energy, the world will need as much copper over the next two decades as we have taken from the Earth since the beginning of civilization.

    If that figure seems staggering, it is because the task of the green energy transition is a daunting task in itself.

    Copper wiring, for instance, will be needed for nearly every component of this shift, from the devices and cars powered by green energy sources to the renewable plants and solar panels themselves.

    Silver is needed for super-conductive wiring in wind turbines, and vast amounts of nickel and lithium will also be necessary to build the batteries to store electricity from renewable sources.

    Add to that the aluminium and iron that are key to building green energy infrastructure.

    Fortunately, these common metals are widely distributed and found in most countries, including most of Europe.

    Less fortunately, Europe has so far been extremely reluctant to mine these materials.

    Europe has to become resource-independent

    Last week we saw the announcement of an Anglo-French joint venture to mine lithium in the southwest of England, with the goal of meeting around two-thirds of the UK’s estimated battery demand.

    However, there still is very low acceptance in Europe of the mining industry.

    For many, mining is viewed as a developing world activity, one which is disruptive and polluting and is best done in Africa or South America. We currently import most of our metals.

    If Europe does not become a mining continent, it will become dependent on countries like China for resources, particularly when it comes to lithium.

     

    Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP
    An armed soldier stands on the grounds of Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe’s processing plant in Goromonzi, July 2023Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP

    However, if Europe does not become a mining continent, it will become dependent on countries like China for resources, particularly when it comes to lithium.

    It is possible to import lithium from more politically friendly countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Mali. But being dependent on international supply chains for crucial resources is untenable.

    A period of enormous change is happening

    We do not need to import metals from the developing world, even lithium. There are major lithium resources in the Czech Republic, Serbia, Bosnia, and Spain.

    Nickel exists plentifully in Europe. There are several large iron mines in Scandinavia, and copper is intensively mined in Spain and Portugal.

    The Vareš silver mine in Bosnia is due to start production this year. But all European countries need to be promoting the extraction of these resources if they are to have a chance of achieving net zero.

    Yes, this means mining, but it doesn’t have to mean mining in the way that Europeans and residents of other continents have historically experienced it.

     

    Darko Vojinovic/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.
    An environmental demonstrator holds a banner reading: “No Pasaran” as a highway is blocked, during a protest against a lithium mine in Belgrade, January 2022Darko Vojinovic/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.

    Yes, this means mining, but it doesn’t have to mean mining in the way that Europeans and residents of other continents have historically experienced it; the slag piles and the “pits” of the increasingly obsolete coal mines.

    The mining industry has been going through a period of enormous change and shifting towards something called “non-disruptive mining”.

    Non-disruptive mining exists — and there’s proof it can be done easily

    Non-disruptive mining means mines that run on renewable energy and whose transport logistics and water use is green.

    It means restoring the nature that is disturbed by mining in a way that preserves and enhances local biodiversity and being careful about all the social and environmental impacts of a mine.

    Most importantly, it means that the waste products which used to end up in slag piles — called “tailings” in the industry — are properly processed to recover all of the plentiful amounts of ore which they contain.

    Sweden is Europe’s pioneer in non-disruptive mining. Its carbon-free iron mine in Kiruna is a sustainable mining flagship for the world, and the Grängesberg iron mine in central Sweden is also a notable sustainable mine.

     

    AP Photo/Malin Moberg
    Reindeer herder Niila Inga from the Laevas Sami community walks across the snow as the sun sets on Longastunturi mountain near Kiruna, Sweden, November 2019AP Photo/Malin Moberg

    Sweden is Europe’s pioneer in non-disruptive mining. Its carbon-free iron mine in Kiruna is a sustainable mining flagship for the world, and the Grängesberg iron mine in central Sweden is also a notable sustainable mine.

    Several of the companies that are expected to mine lithium in the UK have already committed to using a range of sustainable mining techniques ranging from running a plant on hydrogen or lithium-ion power, transporting ore via electric conveyors rather than trucks, and souring electricity from an off-shore wind farm to be built nearby.

    Mining can be the bedrock of Europe’s green energy transition

    All of Europe needs to follow Sweden and the UK’s example and build greener mines, particularly copper, nickel and lithium ones.

    In addition to these national projects, Europe as a whole should be investing in research into and proactive exploration of the major metal deposits in Europe and putting together large-scale green mining projects.

    To achieve this, the image of the mining industry needs to change. Mining needs to become seen for what it is, the bedrock of Europe’s green energy transition and energy independence.

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