The European Union has selected 13 new strategic raw materials projects outside its borders as part of its push to secure critical mineral supplies.
The full list of new projects spans 13 countries: Canada, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine, Zambia, New Caledonia, Brazil, Madagascar, Malawi, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
The initiative comes as the bloc seeks to reduce its reliance on China, which tightened export controls on rare earth magnets in April.
“We must reduce our dependencies on all countries, particularly on a number of countries like China,” European Commissioner for Industry, Thierry Breton, said during the announcement. “The export bans increase our will to diversify.”
The new projects are backed by the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, adopted in 2023, which sets ambitious targets for sourcing key materials by 2030. The bloc aims to mine at least…
