Towards responsible mining and processing of energy-transition metails in Europe: a mere pipedream or a realistic opportunity?

Critical Raw Materials are essential in the modern-day economy, for renewable energy technologies, electric vehicles, long-duration energy storage (LDES) and digitalisation, allowing our society to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).1 The European Commission’s (EC) Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) sets mining, processing and recycling benchmarks to reduce Europe’s dependency on just a few third countries for many of its strategic/critical raw materials (SRMs/CRMs). The CRMA’s main objective is secure a resilient, sustainable and ethical supply of CRMs for the transition to a net-zero economy.

However, Europe’s current CRM dependency problem is huge. For example, Europe is almost 100% reliant on imports of lithium for the Li-ion batteries that are central to decarbonising the energy and mobility sectors. On the other hand, Europe hosts 27 Li hard-rock deposits, representing vast lithium resources. 11 of those 27 deposits are currently being considered for their commercial exploitation (see Figure, courtesy of Wouter Heijlen (Tercienco), 2024).

However, the European potential to explore and mine its resources and produce strategic and critical elements, such as lithium, remains largely untouched, partly due to a reluctant attitude towards mining in several European countries. Most of the disputes among companies and various stakeholders occur as a result of conflicting land uses or due to an advanced risk for affecting the environment, the communities and the ecosystems in the area of concern. The recent protests in Serbia concerning the Jadar project highlight the complexity of initiating mines in Europe.

The social license to operate (SLO) / public acceptance (PA)2 is an informal social contract to improve the relations between the mining industry and the society. A successful social contract is a prerequisite for the implementation of a socially responsible exploration / mining project. During the last years, mining companies operating in Europe have taken many important initiatives to improve their performance and to promote stakeholder engagement and company–community relationships. They also use new low-impact mineral exploration and mining technologies, that address health, safety and environmental issues and have competitive advantages over the traditional ones. Intense research activities are carried out for the promotion of breakthrough technological innovation in exploration, mining, beneficiation, metallurgy and waste valorisation as well as optimisation of water management in the broader mining industry. This proposed approach is in line with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Framework for CRMs that involves, among others, the establishment of a comprehensive Socio-Environmental-Economic Contract to Operate, integrating impacts on societies and communities, the need for a just transition, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and environmental stewardship.

In this event, a round-table discussion with representatives from different entities (EU, academia, research institutions, industry, SMEs, NGOs etc.) will be held to shed light on SLO issues in particular with respect to the CRMA target to endorse and fast-track “Strategic Projects”3, inform society about the requirements of the green energy transition, the responsibility of the mining industry to manage its impacts and identify the most critical aspects to fundamentally transform society’s trust in mining.

Important links:

• Event registration form
• Detailed event agenda