MINEX Forum

Website: Europe.com

  • China Threatens Countermeasures Against EU Industrial Acceleration Act, Warning of WTO Violations and Investment Discrimination

    China Threatens Countermeasures Against EU Industrial Acceleration Act, Warning of WTO Violations and Investment Discrimination

    China has launched a formal diplomatic offensive against the European Union’s Industrial Acceleration Act, warning that the bloc’s strategy to boost domestic manufacturing could violate World Trade Organisation rules and constitute institutional discrimination against foreign investors — and signalling that retaliatory countermeasures may follow if dialogue fails.

    China’s Ministry of Commerce delivered formal feedback to the European Commission on Friday and went public with its criticism on Monday, with a spokesperson arguing that the Act imposes numerous restrictive requirements on foreign investment. At the heart of Beijing’s objection is the EU’s use of preferential “EU origin” tags in public procurement and public support policies — conditions the Chinese government says amount to investment barriers and discriminatory treatment of non-European companies.

    The spokesperson said China is willing to engage in dialogue with the EU to mitigate the policy’s impact, but made clear that if those discussions fail to produce results, Beijing is prepared to take countermeasures to “firmly safeguard” its business interests. The European Commission’s response was measured. Spokesperson Olof Gill said the bloc’s proposals are “carefully calibrated to achieve certain economic wider goals for our citizens” and that the Commission remains open to engagement with global partners.

    The Industrial Acceleration Act, launched by the European Commission in March, targets three strategic sectors: clean technologies, car manufacturers and energy-intensive industries including aluminium, steel and cement. It includes domestic content thresholds of 70% EU-content for electric vehicles, 25% for aluminium and 25% for cement. The measures are designed to direct public procurement and state support toward European producers, reducing industrial dependencies and strengthening economic sovereignty.

    European Commissioner for Industry Stéphane Séjourné framed the initiative as a direct response to a mounting employment crisis. More than 200,000 European jobs have been lost in energy-intensive industries and the automotive sector since 2024, with projections pointing to 600,000 further losses in car-making alone this decade. The proposal must still be approved by the European Parliament and the European Council before it can enter into force.

  • European 2030 Critical Raw Materials targets at risk from ‘implementation bottlenecks’

    European 2030 Critical Raw Materials targets at risk from ‘implementation bottlenecks’

    A new policy brief warns that Europe’s ambitious 2030 targets for critical raw materials are under threat, not from a lack of resources, but from a failure to scale industrial operations quickly enough. With less than five years to go, experts are calling for urgent action to de-risk investment and harmonise regulations across the continent.

    The delivery gap

    A collaborative report from REESOURCE and ten other Horizon Europe projects has highlighted that the EU’s transition to green and digital technologies is currently hampered by significant implementation barriers. Despite the benchmarks set by the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA)—which mandates 10% domestic extraction, 40% processing, and 25% recycling by 2030—the window for delivery is rapidly closing.

    The brief identifies that the primary risk to these goals is not geological scarcity, but rather “delayed scale-up, fragmented governance, and investment uncertainty”.

    Key barriers to industrial scale-up

    Stakeholders from across the value chain, including mining companies, research organisations, and SMEs, have identified several critical bottlenecks:

    • The “Valley of Death”: Limited access to finance for pilot and first-of-a-kind (FOAK) plants remains the most significant hurdle. Market volatility and price uncertainty frequently stall projects between the research phase and commercial deployment.

    • Regulatory Red Tape: Fragmented waste classifications and inconsistent cross-border transport rules for raw materials continue to undermine the efficiency of recycling flows.

    • Permitting Delays: While the CRMA introduces “fast-track” timelines, the actual administrative capacity and interpretation varies wildly across Member States, damaging investor confidence.

    • Social Acceptance: The report suggests that failing to engage local communities early can lead to delays that “outweigh financial or regulatory barriers combined,” particularly in primary extraction projects.

    Recommendations for action

    To course-correct, the policy brief recommends moving toward milestone-based funding pathways and introducing mandatory traceability requirements—such as Digital Product Passports—for devices containing rare-earth magnets. Furthermore, it stresses that primary extraction and recycling must be developed in parallel to ensure a resilient European supply chain.

    As the 2030 deadline approaches, the focus must shift from legislative design to the “operational delivery” of industrial facilities.

  • Bindi Metals to Launch Maiden Drilling at Serbia’s Ravni Gold Project in May Targeting High-Grade Surface Mineralisation

    Bindi Metals to Launch Maiden Drilling at Serbia’s Ravni Gold Project in May Targeting High-Grade Surface Mineralisation

    Australian mining company Bindi Metals will commence its first drilling programme at the Ravni high-grade gold project in Serbia’s southwestern Raska mining district in May, after securing land access across priority drilling locations, the company confirmed in an ASX filing on Wednesday.

    The maiden diamond drilling programme has been designed to test multiple high-priority targets across the Drenjak and Rujak prospects as well as several scout drilling locations. At Drenjak, the programme will focus on high-grade surface mineralisation, while Rujak will be tested for broad mineralised zones. Serbian contractor Reflex Drilling has been engaged to carry out the work.

    Ravni covers 30 square kilometres of tenure within the Western Tethyan Magmatic Belt — a prolific geological corridor that hosts numerous significant gold, copper and base metal deposits, including the Rogozna project in Serbia and the Vares deposit in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bindi Metals began exploration at Ravni in November following a binding agreement with Belgrade-based Red Creek to acquire up to an 80% interest in the project.

    Beyond Ravni, Bindi Metals holds two further Serbian assets acquired from Apollo Minerals in 2024 — the Lisa antimony-gold project and the Mutnica antimony-copper project — giving the company a multi-commodity exploration portfolio across one of Europe’s most active mining jurisdictions.

  • Vulcan Energy Breaks Ground Near Frankfurt as Europe Doubles Down on Domestic Lithium Production Amid Iran Energy Shock

    Vulcan Energy Breaks Ground Near Frankfurt as Europe Doubles Down on Domestic Lithium Production Amid Iran Energy Shock

    Vulcan Energy Resources has begun construction on its Lionheart lithium processing facility outside Frankfurt, marking a significant milestone for a project that has become one of the most strategically significant critical minerals investments in Europe as the continent scrambles to reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains and cope with a second major energy shock in four years.

    The first stage of Lionheart, backed by Gina Rinehart and due for completion in 2028, will produce 24,000 tonnes per year of lithium hydroxide monohydrate — sufficient to supply batteries for around 500,000 electric vehicles annually. The project’s process is more chemical than conventional mining: hot, briny water is pumped from underground reservoirs in Landau, approximately two hours from Frankfurt, transported to the processing centre and subjected to electrolysis to extract lithium. The geothermal heat from the same water provides an additional energy stream that offsets much of the production cost and emissions.

    It is that energy advantage that Vulcan chief executive Cris Moreno describes as Lionheart’s competitive edge. “When you look at most lithium-like supply chains, with the biggest cost of production, the one single factor is energy,” Moreno said. “That energy in that brine effectively gives us all the energy we need to develop the entire process, so we’re not buying energy” — allowing the company to compete on cost against Chinese producers despite operating in one of the world’s most expensive labour markets.

    The project has attracted a striking roster of institutional and strategic backers, reflecting its importance to European supply chain policy. The German government has invested €150 million through its Raw Materials Fund administered by KfW, which has also taken a €50 million equity stake in Arafura Rare Earths, another Australian critical minerals company. The European Investment Bank has emerged as Lionheart’s largest lender, committing €250 million. Stellantis, the world’s fifth-largest automaker, holds a stake in the project. KfW’s head of equity investments Jan Klasen noted the development bank has shifted its critical minerals approach from debt financing to direct equity participation, describing critical minerals as “a scarce resource” that warranted the government deploying its most powerful tools.

    The war in Iran — which has inflicted a second major energy shock on European consumers in little more than four years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — has only intensified the urgency. The EU-Australia free trade agreement, recently concluded, removes all tariffs on Australian mineral exports to the EU and prohibits dual pricing structures. Brussels has also unveiled its RESourceEU plan targeting €3 billion in mobilised investment over twelve months for projects prioritising materials for magnets, batteries and defence.

    Analysts and policymakers are careful to note, however, that domestic production alone cannot solve Europe’s supply challenge. “Even if Europe develops more of its own mining, refining, processing and recycling, it will almost certainly continue to source a substantial share of critical materials from abroad,” said Petya Barzilska of the European Initiative for Energy Security, who argued that Europe had not necessarily been slower than other regions but had simply built its economic model around efficiency rather than resilience — a trade-off that now requires urgent correction.

  • Mkango Resources Opens Rare Earth Magnet Recycling Plant in Germany as Europe Pushes to Build Domestic Supply Chain

    Mkango Resources Opens Rare Earth Magnet Recycling Plant in Germany as Europe Pushes to Build Domestic Supply Chain

    Mkango Resources has officially opened a rare earth magnet recycling facility in Pforzheim, Germany, operated by its subsidiary HyProMag GmbH, marking a concrete step toward building European domestic capacity in a supply chain currently dominated by China.

    The plant uses Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap technology — developed at the University of Birmingham — to recycle neodymium-iron-boron magnets, the permanent magnets used in electric vehicle motors and wind turbines. The facility carries backing from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and featured in the recently signed UK-Germany agreement on critical raw materials, underlining its relevance to both national industrial policy and broader allied supply chain strategy.

    Initial capacity stands at 100 tonnes per year, with a medium-term target of 350 tonnes and a fully permitted ceiling of 750 tonnes annually. The phased ramp-up allows Mkango to grow output without requiring heavy upfront capital deployment, while commissioning is already underway with early processing runs of the core unit completed.

    The plant’s strategic significance exceeds its current output. Europe has been working to reduce dependence on imported rare earths — particularly from China, which dominates both primary production and processing — and magnet recycling offers a lower-carbon and lower-cost alternative to primary mining as a route to domestic supply. Neodymium-iron-boron magnets are among the most critical materials in the energy transition, and recovering them from end-of-life products addresses both supply security and circular economy objectives simultaneously.

  • Germany and UK Sign Critical Minerals Agreement in Berlin as Post-Brexit Economic Partnership Deepens

    Germany and UK Sign Critical Minerals Agreement in Berlin as Post-Brexit Economic Partnership Deepens

    Germany and the United Kingdom are set to formalise a strategic agreement on rare earth minerals at a German-British economic forum in Berlin, as the two countries build on the framework established by the Kensington Agreement signed in July 2025 to deepen post-Brexit cooperation across defence, security and the economy.

    British Business Secretary Peter Kyle and German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche are due to sign the agreement, which the two ministers described in a joint statement as covering “collaboration across the entirety of the critical raw materials landscape.” The signing marks a concrete step in translating the Kensington Agreement’s broad ambitions into sector-specific industrial policy.

    Kyle, speaking to dpa ahead of the Berlin visit, framed critical minerals as central to both economic security and the growth sectors of the future. “Critical minerals underpin much of the economic security that we need,” he said, pointing to technology, medical equipment and other high-value industries as directly dependent on secure mineral supply. He acknowledged that while both Germany and the UK produce some rare earth minerals domestically, European output cannot match China’s scale — making coordinated action between allied nations essential. “By working together we can be compatible, and we can be strategic, and we can lay the foundations for long-term resilience,” he said, describing the bilateral relationship as “very instinctive.”

    The agreement builds on a period of intensified European engagement with the critical minerals challenge. The EU and the US signed a Critical Minerals Memorandum of Understanding and Action Plan last week. Germany also signed a separate strategic partnership with Brazil focused on rare earth supply earlier this month. The UK has bilateral minerals cooperation agreements with countries including Kazakhstan, Australia and Canada.

    Alongside the minerals agreement, the two countries announced plans to cooperate on artificial intelligence. The UK is joining the EU’s AI Champions initiative, and Kyle argued that Europe’s failure to produce a trillion-dollar technology company underscored the need for cross-border collaboration. “That spark has got to come from like-minded countries that share a sense of ambition,” he said.

  • Blue Moon Metals Approves $184 Million Norway Copper Mine and Eyes Tungsten Restart in Nevada as Western Supply Chain Strategy Takes Shape

    Blue Moon Metals Approves $184 Million Norway Copper Mine and Eyes Tungsten Restart in Nevada as Western Supply Chain Strategy Takes Shape

    Blue Moon Metals has approved construction of its Nussir copper-gold-silver mine in northern Norway and moved toward restarting the Springer tungsten mine in Nevada, pairing a final investment decision with a C$150 million equity raise as the company shifts from developer to builder across two continents.

    The Nussir project, located approximately 1,400 kilometres north of Oslo, locks in a 13-year mine plan for a 6,000-tonne-per-day underground operation with first production targeted for the third quarter of 2027. Total construction capital of $184 million will be funded through the equity raise alongside cash and undrawn capacity from the company’s existing $140 million project financing package. A feasibility study issued this month confirms measured and indicated resources of 28.72 million tonnes grading 1.02% copper, 0.12 grams gold per tonne and 12.3 grams silver — averaging a 1.2% copper-equivalent grade. The project carries an after-tax net present value of $235 million at an 8% discount rate and an internal rate of return of 19%, with annual free cash flow estimated at $77 million at consensus prices and $125 million at spot. Blue Moon targets approximately 19,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate annually from the second half of 2027.

    Nussir benefits from infrastructure that many greenfield projects lack: ore will be processed at the brownfield Øyen industrial site, the mine connects to a 132-kV renewable power grid and ships through an ice-free port. It already holds its operating licence, tailings permit and zoning plan.

    The more strategically ambitious dimension of Blue Moon’s portfolio lies in its US critical minerals assets. The company acquired the Springer tungsten mine in Nevada in February and has now approved a restart programme targeting production by the fourth quarter of 2027, with approximately $50 million of restart capital required. Internal modelling points to between 107,000 and 124,000 tonnes of concentrate, which the company says could make Springer the only major tungsten producer in North America. Blue Moon is also developing the Blue Moon gallium-germanium deposit in California and the Apex deposit in Utah, positioning the three assets as a western supply chain for minerals where China’s dominance is near-total.

    Blue Moon cited figures showing China, Russia and North Korea account for 87% of global tungsten output, China produces approximately 95% of gallium and supplies roughly 75% of germanium. Tungsten prices have surged from $500 to $3,000 per tonne over seven months. Canaccord Genuity analyst William Jones, in an April tungsten industry report, described the supply chain as tightly concentrated and forecast structural deficits through 2030, noting that Western economies remain heavily import-dependent and often rely on Chinese-processed material even where ore is mined domestically.

    The Springer restart was approved without a current feasibility study or current mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, and Blue Moon cautioned that the 2012 historical resource estimate of 322,050 indicated tonnes grading 0.537% tungsten trioxide should not be relied upon as current.

  • Czech Companies Expand Kazakhstan Footprint With Car Assembly, Heat Exchangers and Uranium Talks Across Six New Agreements

    Czech Companies Expand Kazakhstan Footprint With Car Assembly, Heat Exchangers and Uranium Talks Across Six New Agreements

    Czech businesses are broadening their industrial and energy presence in Kazakhstan, with projects spanning vehicle assembly, manufacturing and nuclear fuel supply taking shape as bilateral economic ties deepen.

    Škoda Auto is advancing an $8.2 million initiative to assemble vehicles locally in Kazakhstan, while industrial company BBS plans to launch heat exchanger production by the end of 2026 with an estimated investment of $9 million. Both projects reflect a wider pattern of Czech industrial firms seeking manufacturing footholds in Kazakhstan’s growing economy.

    In the energy sector, Czech utility giant ČEZ Group is exploring long-term collaboration with Kazatomprom, Kazakhstan’s national nuclear company, including uranium supply agreements previously signed between the two parties. The talks come as European utilities accelerate efforts to diversify uranium procurement away from Russian suppliers following the war in Ukraine.

    Six cooperation agreements were signed between Kazakh and Czech companies at the forum, covering potential joint ventures in energy, transport, machinery production and insurance — a signal of broadening commercial ambition beyond individual project deals.

    Officials noted that growing Czech interest is contributing to a broader uptick in foreign direct investment in Kazakhstan, which rose 14.4% in 2025 to $20.5 billion, with a significant portion directed toward new greenfield projects.

  • German Lignite Operator LEAG Pushes to Suspend Coal Phase-Out and Exit EU Carbon Market as Iran War Reshapes Energy Calculus

    German Lignite Operator LEAG Pushes to Suspend Coal Phase-Out and Exit EU Carbon Market as Iran War Reshapes Energy Calculus

    Eastern Germany’s largest lignite plant operator LEAG is lobbying state governments in Brandenburg and Saxony to keep domestic coal production running beyond planned phase-out timelines, arguing that the energy crisis triggered by the Iran war has fundamentally altered the conditions under which Germany’s coal exit was agreed.

    According to an internal company presentation reported by business weekly WirtschaftsWoche, LEAG is positioning lignite as a cheap, domestically available alternative to fossil fuel imports disrupted by damage to Persian Gulf energy infrastructure and trade routes. The document, prepared as a briefing ahead of talks with eastern German coal state governments, describes lignite power production as a potentially cost-competitive energy source capable of bolstering Germany’s energy security — but one rendered artificially uncompetitive solely by carbon prices under the EU’s Emissions Trading System.

    LEAG’s proposals include excluding lignite-fired power plants from the ETS for a predetermined period, placing selected plants on security standby while mining continues, and introducing an industry power price that could be set at approximately half the market rate if the state absorbs carbon costs. The company did not deny the reports but described its discussions with state governments as routine engagement ahead of a planned summer monitoring report on Germany’s coal phase-out. It added that the Iran conflict had created “changed framework conditions” that make fresh talks “absolutely necessary.”

    The push finds some political sympathy. Chancellor Friedrich Merz said after the outbreak of the Iran war that Germany may need to delay the closure of individual coal plants in the event of supply shortages. The state governments in Brandenburg and Saxony acknowledged they hold regular talks with LEAG, which is a major employer in their coal mining regions, without confirming receipt of the specific proposals.

    The initiative sits awkwardly against the financial commitments already made around the phase-out. LEAG is set to receive up to 1.75 billion euros under Germany’s coal phase-out law to transition its business toward climate-neutral energy production, while the states themselves are in line for billions of euros in structural adjustment funding ahead of the 2038 phase-out deadline. Removing lignite from the ETS would work directly against one of the trading system’s primary objectives — pushing polluting and inefficient plants out of the market — while market dynamics alone could make coal-fired power generation economically unviable well before 2038, researchers have noted.

    In western Germany, RWE has agreed to end coal-fired power production by 2030, conditional on sufficient backup capacity being installed. The federal economy ministry confirmed on Monday that it had contributed more than a third of 240 million euros in transformation investments in North Rhine-Westphalia, covering battery production and recycling facilities among other projects.

    LEAG’s owner, Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky, has previously criticised the EU’s carbon pricing scheme. The company said that if none of its proposals are accepted, it would consider closing its least efficient plants ahead of schedule.

  • Critical Metals Proposes $835 Million All-Stock Acquisition of European Lithium to Consolidate Full Ownership of Greenland Rare Earth Project

    Critical Metals Proposes $835 Million All-Stock Acquisition of European Lithium to Consolidate Full Ownership of Greenland Rare Earth Project

    Critical Metals has proposed to acquire Australian-listed European Lithium in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $835 million, in a deal designed to consolidate full ownership of its Tanbreez rare earth project in Greenland while eliminating its largest shareholder from its register.

    Under a letter of intent announced on Monday, Critical Metals is offering 0.035 of a common share for each European Lithium share, based on closing prices and exchange rates on 22 April. Shares in Critical Metals rose 5% on the announcement, lifting its market capitalisation to $1.5 billion. The company described the combination as a logical transaction that creates minimal dilution for its own shareholders while increasing its public float.

    European Lithium currently owns approximately 34% of Critical Metals’ outstanding shares, which carried a market value of $540 million as of 22 April. Upon completion of the deal, Critical Metals intends to cancel those shares — removing a dominant holder from its register and, the company says, making it more attractive to future strategic investors and potential acquirers.

    The transaction would also transfer to Critical Metals the remaining 7.5% interest in Tanbreez previously held by European Lithium, bringing its ownership of the project to 100%. Critical Metals secured a 92.5% stake last October and received Greenland government approval for the indirect licence transfer shortly before the deal announcement.

    Located at Killavaat Alannguat in southern Greenland, Tanbreez is regarded as one of the largest undeveloped heavy rare earth assets outside China. A preliminary economic assessment estimated a project value of $3 billion based on a 4.7 billion tonne resource across two deposits. Offtake agreements have already been secured for three-quarters of future production, and the project has been lined up for $120 million in US Export-Import Bank financing. Critical Metals is targeting first ore production in the fourth quarter of 2028 or the first quarter of 2029.