Editor Georgie Purcell spoke to Florian Anderhuber, Deputy Director General of Euromines, to discuss Europe’s current potential for mineral development and how its mining sector can be accelerated to meet the demand for critical and strategic raw materials.
Driven by the green and digital transitions, global demand for critical and strategic raw materials is greater than ever at present. This demand places significant pressure on Europe, which has been highly dependent on other countries for its mineral supply for many years. Despite vast potential for mineral exploration and development, only a few EU countries have active mines. In a bid to address domestic supply issues, the European Commission has introduced a series of policies and strategies to accelerate critical mineral development in the EU and establish secure supply chains. Such policies include the Critical Raw Materials Act, the Net Zero Industry Act, and the REPowerEU plan.
Euromines is the recognised representative of the European metals and minerals mining industry and works to promote responsible industry practices and reflect the adequate consideration of mining in EU policy making. Euromines serves as a co-operative network that evaluates the impact of European and international policies and legislations on the mining industry and define common positions and actions. Amongst its work, Euromines has introduced the Sustainable Mining Initiative to help promote its members’ sustainability achievements and implementations in their daily operations. Through the Initiative, Euromines shares best practices in circular economy, decarbonisation, and community.
Editor Georgie Purcell spoke to Florian Anderhuber, Deputy Director General of Euromines, to gain a more in-depth look at Europe’s mining sector and the work of Euromines.
Can you tell us more about Euromines as an organisation and elaborate on your key goals?
Euromines is the business association of the European mining industry. We cover a total of 54 different minerals and metals mined in Europe – from hot commodities such as lithium, to more well-established materials like copper and iron ore and minerals such as potash and magnesite. We also focus on the entire ecosystem of mining, including the technology providers.
Our objectives include positioning and presenting the advantages of a robust license to operate of the European mining industry; demonstrating that we are a responsible player; demonstrating the cutting-edge technologies that we are using and developing in Europe; and highlighting the advantages that mining in Europe can bring for global mining. Our key goal is to have a thriving, innovative, clean, and sustainable mining industry in Europe that is providing the raw materials that we need for our daily life, and particularly for the ‘twin’ digital and green transition.
What is Europe’s current potential for critical raw material development?
There is very large potential for strategic and critical raw materials in Europe. For example, there are several lithium projects in the pipeline currently and we are continuously discovering new deposits for copper, nickel and other materials that are classed as critical or strategic. Europe also has deposits for other essential minerals and materials that underpin a sustainable society and living standard.
One of the larger impediments facing raw materials exploration and development in Europe is the existing geological data. A lot of the data that we have is outdated or superficial. The exploration of the ground has had to go deeper and wider to have a better understanding of what the full potential is. Over the last 30 years, there has been a cutback in precisely this kind of understanding due to a lot of raw materials being imported. This trend is now being reversed, predominantly due to the twin transition and raw material demands.
The current permitting frameworks are also impeding mining: contradictory or overlapping legislation and requirements, and procedures that take up to 15 years or more need to be made leaner and more streamlined to ensure responsible operations to get off the ground in a timely manner.
On the energy side, we would like to replace oil, coal and gas with solar and wind – ramping up the demand for materials such as copper, nickel, and lithium. This places pressure on Europe, given that we have a huge dependency on other countries for a lot of the raw materials needed for clean technologies. For lithium, as an example, there is currently no single operating mine or refinery in Europe and more than 90% of Europe’s lithium supply comes from outside of the continent.
In terms of reducing Europe’s dependencies, the Critical Raw Materials Act, coupled with the Net-Zero Industry Act, is a very important step forward for European thinking. This shows a move away from simply considering raw materials as a good to purchase.
Why is it so important to ensure the responsible development of Europe’s mining sector?
Mining does and will always have an environmental impact because it is dealing with the ground itself. We are taking from the ground, so it is vitally important to consider what we take to the ground, what we give back to society, and how much of it is borrowed in the long term. Unfortunately, this responsible attitude towards mining is not reflected in some other parts of the world, where the ground is being torn up and left.
In addition, there is the question of fairness and honesty. We want to have green technology and clean electricity, so the underlying raw material space must be equally clean – otherwise, the calculation simply will not even out and we will not be able to achieve our 2050 objectives or the Sustainable Development Goals. It is essential to have a long-term sustainable vision for infrastructure, jobs, and settlements that occur during the life of a mine.
Can you elaborate more on Euromines’ Sustainable Mining Initiative and how this leads the direction of your work?
The Sustainable Mining Initiative was launched around two years ago to demonstrate best practices in sustainable mining. It aims to bring together the different stakeholders of the mining universe to exchange on and disseminate best practices, as well as enhancing understanding of how mining can contribute to a more sustainable planet. It is driven by the members who have a very strong stake in sustainable mining and mineral production, and it is a vehicle to approach wider society and policymakers with our work.
One thing that became clear was that a lot of our members have amazing projects with very unique setups when it comes to environmental protection, and climate change mitigation. However, this is not well-recognised and it leaves a vacuum that is being filled with very ugly pictures from other parts of the world, where mining is sometimes operating under abysmal circumstances. This is not mining that we want, nor that we wish to compete with. However, the challenge lies with setting a price. This is an issue that the Sustainable Mining Initiative strives to tackle.
How important is innovation in Europe’s mining sector? What is needed to enable innovation and R&D to prosper in this field?
A sustainable mine has a cost. It is not cheap to run or transform a sustainable mine. Our industry is a price taker, meaning that our prices are dictated by global markets. These prices must absorb costs and allow for certain profit in order to attract investment. Achieving this boils down to efficiency, energy, and automation.
Innovation is one of the major factors that can help mining in Europe to be profitable. In the global competition, many mines have a cost structure where, for example, labour costs are insignificant and environmental protection costs are non-existent. To survive amongst this kind of competition, innovative technologies that allow for smarter, cleaner and better mining are hugely important. For example, there are mines using technology to remotely operate heavy machinery, improve efficiency and help to alleviate health and safety obstacles.
There is also the use of digital tools for selective mining. For certain deposits, efficiency can be increased by mining selectively. This reduces the amount of material that has to be transported and means that processing already begins at a greater purity, reducing waste.
Innovation can also play a significant role in decarbonisation. For example, European mines were the first to install trolley lines for electrifying trucks, reducing diesel use and increasing efficiency. Such a truck runs twice as fast as a diesel-powered truck.
We also have very innovative mine suppliers in Europe that continuously work on increasing efficiencies, cleaning up processes, making them carbon neutral, and electrifying. The advantage here in Europe is that these methods can be tested on the mines that are operational already.
It is crucially important to remain innovative in the long run because, in many instances, we don’t know what direction certain chemistries are heading in, or where demand is heading. For example, the International Energy Agency predicts an eightfold growth in lithium demand by 2040. This is very significant given that, just 15 years ago, lithium gained little attention. Being able to maintain a continuous deposit of lithium, for example, requires continuous evaluation of what kind of innovations you can have in the process or how you can adapt them over time. This requires a lot of flexibility and a lot of brain power to move forward. Additionally, not every deposit is the same. In Europe, we have some very complex deposits that need specific technologies, new technologies, or adaptable technologies to allow you to continue operating.
The need to reduce environmental impacts also requires new and innovative technologies. In European mining, given that the legal framework is very strict in terms of mining and permitting, this is incentivising a lot of innovation.
How is Euromines working to promote and support innovation in the mining sector?
The Sustainable Mining Initiative is our main tool to promote and showcase innovation and what is possible.
We also have the Horizon Europe programme. Whilst we are not participating as a member in this, we try to provide input and relay funding calls to our members to encourage them to apply and participate in funding options.
Hydrogen is also a very important topic for us as an alternative energy carrier to natural gas. For the production of heat, it is necessary. We are gathering different projects and pilots from our members that have to adjust their process with an increased share of hydrogen in the gas network.
Please note, this article will also appear in the 20th edition of our quarterly publication.
