Italy tries to reopen mines in search of critical minerals June 21, 2024

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends a plenary session during the Ukraine Peace Summit at the luxurious Burgenstock resort near Lucerne on June 16, 2024. The two-day meeting brings together the Ukrainian president and more than 50 other heads of state and government to try to find a way forward for a peace process for Ukraine - albeit without Russia. (Photo by ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE / POOL / AFP)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Italy tries to reopen mines in search of critical minerals

Italy adopted measures on Thursday aimed at increasing domestic supplies and processing of essential raw materials, as part of an EU strategy to compete with China in green technologies.

The cabinet approved a decree simplifying procedures for mining licenses, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government seeks to exploit essential minerals, from lithium to cobalt.

The extraction, processing, and recycling of these materials is "urgent", and the decree brings Italy into line with the European Union's new Critical Raw Materials Law, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso told a press conference.

The law stipulates that the bloc must meet 10% of its demand for mining and extraction of raw materials through production on its territory, while 15% of its annual consumption of each critical raw material must come from recycling.

"We are currently totally lacking in extraction, while we are in pole position in Europe when it comes to recycling (minerals)," said Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin.

Licenses for the extraction, processing, or recycling of materials, if approved, must now be issued within 18 months of the application being submitted.

Companies with mining concessions will have to pay up to 7% in royalties to the government or regional authorities.

Italy believes it has reserves of at least 15 of the 34 raw materials considered critical by the EU, but many of them are in mines that closed decades ago because they were not profitable at the time, Urso said.

According to ISPRA, Italy's environmental agency, potential minerals for extraction include lithium near Rome, lead and zinc in Lombardy, cobalt in Piedmont, titanium in Liguria, and ores in Sicily and Sardinia.

The agency has until May 2025 to provide an up-to-date mineral map. Satellites and drones would be used in some cases to detect minerals deep underground, Urso said.

Mining poses significant environmental concerns, particularly about carbon emissions from production and refining sites.

The EU wants to meet the growing need for materials for the transition to renewable energy technology, much of which it currently imports from China, to avoid relying on one country for a specific product.

China currently dominates many sectors, including semiconductors, essential minerals, batteries, and solar panels.

Italy and other EU countries must act now "so as not to move from subordination to Russian fossil fuels to a more serious subordination to Chinese raw materials and technologies," said Urso.

ide/rlp