Europe needs new mines, but in spite of corresponding political plans, mining operations face all but impossible challenges. By contrast, in North America the rush for lithium, copper and rare earths is currently undergoing a phase of significant dynamics.
With the Inflation Reduction Act as an economic stimulation programme and other measures, the US government has made a clear decision in favour of establishing an independent supply of raw materials. The same is true for Europe – but only on paper, as the analysts at mining consultant Miningscout report. Rio Tinto has become symbolic for the difficulties encountered while trying to exploit deposits of ore. The giant mining company plans to implement a big lithium project called Jadar in Serbia. Jadar is one of the world’s largest deposits of lithium (occurring here in conjunction with boron). The deposit was discovered in 2004 and could supply 90 percent of the current European lithium demand. But the project is not progressing: there were protests in 2022, which led the government in Belgrade to withhold necessary permits.
The Chinese newspaper Global Times – one of two English-language newspapers there, and with the Communist Party as a patron – has reported that attempts in Europe to reduce dependence on far-off source countries are stagnating.
Nevertheless, the “Critical Raw Materials Act” did set goals for some strategic raw materials: until 2030, the EU wants to mine at least 10 percent of the annual demand, recycle 25 percent and process 40 percent.
The Chinese observation is on target: the most important measure to reach this goal is new mines. However: mining in Europe is more expensive than in many international competing countries. Challenges like high cost of work and strict laws for protecting the environment, a backlog of missed technical progress in the domestic mining industries and high energy costs are said to be challenges which are almost impossible to meet.
Europe lacks dynamic change
Europe is said to lack dynamic change in this renaissance of mining – this dynamic change, however, is very much present elsewhere, the Miningscout experts warn. According to them, this is the reason why the continent is in danger of losing out as the global streams of raw materials are newly ordered.
One example among many is ambitious explorer Chariot with its geologically promising project in the McDermitt Caldera in the USA, according to its owner Lithium Americas the largest known lithium deposit in the United States and the third-largest worldwide. The project shows how the fight for independence from raw material imports is being waged with much more vigour in North America.
Canadian deep-sea mining exploration specialist The Metals Company (TMC) only recently reported successful production of the world's first cobalt sulphate from poly-metallic nodules from the ocean floor – one month after this had already been done successfully for nickel sulphate.
Dr Jeffrey Donald, head of onshore development at TMC, sees this as an impulse “for the entire deep-seafloor mineral industry” which is said to be ready to take off. Europe, however, is still at the very beginning of this development. North American mining companies are showing significant dynamics outside Western countries as well. For example, Canadian company Ivanhoe Mines was able to report progress in the Komoa-Kakula mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the coming months, this complex will expand to become the third-largest supplier of copper in the world – and it will do so even ahead of its original schedule. If nothing changes,
North America will leave Europe completely behind in the coming years when it comes to the supply of important raw materials – with all consequences for the industrial economy on this side of the Atlantic, the analysts conclude.
Source: Miningscout
