However, previous governments have done comparatively little to develop new mines or at least to secure them financially. German politicians consider this to be a task for the economy, while China has been supporting the extraction of raw materials with state subsidies since the 1990s. Today the country dominates the mining and processing of all rare earth metals, but also of gallium, vanadium and indium.
A look at Serbia shows how late Germany and the European Union are on the way to securing the raw materials for the energy transition. In 2013, the Serbian government was looking for investors for the copper mine and smelter near the small town of Bor in the east of the country. The discovery of a new copper deposit in particular made it seem possible that the former industrial combine could be rehabilitated at the time.
Despite some interest from Western mining companies, EU governments have not backed any of them with guarantees. The Serbian government finally chose the Chinese company Zijin in 2018. Over 27,000 tons of copper concentrates are now being mined in Bor again each year. »But that is now more likely to go towards the new Chinese Silk Road instead of supporting the energy transition in Europe,« says Jens Gutzmer.
Nobody wants a mine next door
Other projects that could support the raw material needs of the European energy transition are provoking resistance: In the Extremadura in Spain there are significant underground lithium deposits, but the planned mine is opposed by many residents of nearby communities. The largest lithium deposits in Europe are believed to be in Portugal, but its president recently spoke out against a mine in the north-west of the country.
© Mirko Kuzmanovic / Getty Images / iStock (detail)
Copper Mine at Bor | The mine in Serbia annually supplies 27,000 tons of copper concentrate, the raw material goes to China.
The pressure from the streets also prevented the planned lithium mine in Jadar, Serbia: after massive protests shortly before the parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic decided against the project in January 2022. The reason for the protests lies precisely in the experience with the copper plant in Bor, which has been run by the Chinese for four years: the Chinese entry hardly improved the economic conditions of the local people. The company mainly hired workers from Vietnam and China, while the air quality for all residents deteriorated massively due to the start of production. Although Rio Tinto responded by promising to employ 90 percent Serbian workers in its planned mine and to follow strict environmental guidelines, this did not convince either the Serbs or the government shortly before the election.
While the energy transition is currently increasing the need for metals and thus more mining, there is at least one positive prospect: it is the way to a real circular economy if, for example, the need for neodymium and copper for new wind turbines can be covered by recycling disused systems . However, this point in time has not yet been reached: “Right now we are hardly dismantling anything, but above all building it up,” says Jens Gutzmer.