Europe’s belated mining awakening

The awakening is brutal. Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union (EU) has become painfully aware of its excessive dependence on Russian hydrocarbons. To counter the risk of electricity shortages this winter, the Member States have put aside their climate commitments to reopen certain coal-fired power stations – such as that of Saint-Avold (Moselle), which resumed service on November 28 –, even extend the operation of black fuel mines, such as that of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, the closure of which has been postponed from 2023 to mid-2025.

But, for the past few months, a mining revival of another kind has also been taking place in Europe, which is much more vital: “That of rare earths and strategic metals, without which the energy transition is unthinkable”sums up Bernard Dahdah, sector specialist at Natixis.

Without lithium, it is impossible to manufacture the batteries needed for electric cars. Without copper, wind turbines cannot spin. Without cadmium tellurium, photovoltaic panels cannot work, not to mention nickel, cobalt and magnesium, which are just as essential for electric mobility…

“The world will move from a dependence on hydrocarbons to a dependence on these raw materials”, summarizes Vincent Donnen, founder of the Rare Metals Company, a financial company specializing in the subject.

“Extreme fragility”

The numbers are dizzying. According to the International Energy Agency, the energy sector’s demand for lithium will increase by more than 40 times by 2040. The World Bank estimates that the production of graphite, lithium and cobalt should increase by nearly 500% by 2050 to meet climate targets, while according to Bank of America, nickel consumption will increase by 40% each year until 2030.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers The supply of metals, a critical issue in the energy transition

“In 2010, when China suspended its exports of rare earths to Japan and, even more so, since the supply problems linked to Covid-19, then to the war in Ukraine, Europe became aware of its extreme fragility in this matter”explains Patrick d’Hugues, from the Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM), the French establishment devoted to geology.

Waking up is late. The EU dreams of ensuring 25% of the world’s production of electric batteries in 2030, against 2% in 2020, but China already has control over the sector. Beijing now concentrates 60% of lithium refining capacity – almost half of which is produced by Australia – and supplied 98% of the rare earths consumed by the Old Continent between 2012 and 2016. “If it wants to ensure its sovereignty in this area, it will have to develop recycling, diversify its supplies and develop its own mining resources”summarizes Guillaume Pitron, journalist author of The Rare Metal War (Editions Les Liens qui liberating, 2018).

You have 51.48% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.

source site-30