EU picks 13 new critical material projects, including in South Africa

TimesLIVE

3 days ago

The EU on Wednesday announced 13 new raw material projects outside the bloc to increase its supplies of metals and minerals essential for it to stay competitive in the energy transition as well as defence and aerospace.
The announcement follows China's decision in April to impose export curbs on rare earth magnets until new licences are obtained, leaving diplomats, carmakers and other companies from Europe and elsewhere scrambling to secure meetings with Beijing officials and avert factory shutdowns.
"We must reduce our dependencies on all countries, particularly on a number of countries like China ... The export bans increase our will to diversify," European commissioner for industry Stephane Sejourne told reporters.
China controls more than 90% of global processing capacity for the magnets, used in everything from vehicles and fighter jets to home appliances. It is also the main supplier of many key inputs for renewable energy, especially rare earth minerals, batteries and solar panels, a situation Brussels is keen to change.
The EU list is part of the implementation of the Critical Raw Material Act agreed in 2023 under which the bloc aims to mine 10%, process 40% and recycle 25% of its needs by 2030.
Ten of the new projects will be focused on materials essential for electric vehicle batteries and battery storage, including lithium, cobalt, manganese and graphite. Two projects for rare earths are located in Malawi and South Africa.
Other projects are located in Britain, Canada, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine, Zambia, Brazil and the French territory of New Caledonia.
The British project is to extract tungsten and the ones in Ukraine and Greenland will be for graphite, with the project in Greenland run by GreenRoc Strategic Materials. Tungsten is key for the defence industry.
Greenland has been a point of tension between Brussels and Washington this year after US President Donald Trump repeatedly said he wants to acquire the Danish overseas territory.
US officials have discussed a plan to pull Greenland into America's sphere of influence with a type of agreement called COFA that the US has used to maintain close ties with several Pacific Island nations. Under COFA the US government offers essential services and in exchange, the US military operates freely while trade with the US is largely duty-free.
The Serbian project, run by major miner Rio Tinto, could produce 90% of Europe's lithium needs. However, the project nearly fell apart after the government revoked the miner's licence in 2022. A Serbian court restored Rio Tinto's rights last year. Many Serbs oppose the Jadar project, saying its development will damage the environment.
"With an estimated production of 58,000 tons of lithium carbonate annually, Serbia has the potential to become a key player in the electric vehicle supply chain," Rio Tinto said in a statement.
The EU has estimated that the projects would need an overall capital investment of €5.5bn (R111.78bn) to get off the ground. They would receive coordinated financial support and buyer interest from the European Commission, member states and lenders.
The new list brings the EU's total number of strategic projects to 60. In March, the Commission announced 47 projects within the EU.