The European Union (EU) has fast-tracked nearly 50 mineral projects, selecting them from over 170 applications to help meet its 2030 metal extraction, processing, and recycling goals. This initiative aims to build a stronger regional raw materials and midstream metals supply base, with a total investment of approximately €22.5 billion required for these projects.

Among the selected projects are 25 proposed mines, 24 planned mineral processing ventures, 10 recycling initiatives, and two raw-material substitution developments. These projects cover 14 of the EU’s 17 listed "strategic" raw materials, including lithium (22 projects), nickel (12), graphite (11), cobalt (10), and manganese (7). The European Commission highlighted that these projects will ensure the EU can meet its extraction, processing, and recycling benchmarks for lithium and cobalt while making significant progress in graphite, nickel, and manganese.

The projects are spread across multiple EU countries including Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Estonia, Czechia, Greece, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Poland, and Romania. The EU claims that new mines will take a maximum of 27 months to permit; processing and recycling projects will take about 15 months. Currently, permitting processes can take five to ten years.

Dirk Harbecke, CEO of Canada’s Rock Tech Lithium, expressed his company's honor at being recognized as a strategic project by the European Commission. Rock Tech Lithium plans to produce 24,000 tonnes per annum of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in Germany through its proposed Guben lithium hydroxide converter project. Keith Coughlan, executive chairman of European Metals Holdings, also welcomed the recognition of their proposed Cinovec lithium project in Czechia under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) strategic project banner. The Czech government has declared Cinovec as a strategic deposit.

European Metals Holdings and their partner CEZ aim to complete Cinovec’s definitive feasibility study in mid-2025 and submit an environmental impact assessment for approval by the end of the year. Pavel Cyrani from CEZ emphasized that lithium is crucial for meeting the Czech Republic’s ambitious goals for raw material and energy security as well as the development of the automotive industry.

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