Europe’s access to critical minerals and industrial metals has become a central element of economic security, industrial competitiveness and geopolitical strategy as mining, processing and refining capacity remains heavily concentrated outside the European Union.
Speaking at a conference organised in Athens by the Hellenic Survey of Geology and Mineral Exploration (EAGME), Konstantinos Yazitzoglou, president of the Association of Mining Companies of Greece, said Western economies continue to underestimate their dependence on Asian and state-controlled supply chains for critical raw materials. He argued that the challenge extends beyond access to mineral deposits, encompassing every stage of the value chain from processing and refining to advanced material production.
Processing dominance reshapes strategic mineral markets
According to the association, China has established a dominant position in mineral processing, refining, precursor materials, permanent magnets and other advanced manufacturing segments, while Russia, India, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo occupy significant roles in individual commodity supply chains.
The assessment states that the wider BRICS group, together with countries where strategic deposits or processing assets are controlled by Chinese or Russian state-owned enterprises, accounts for between 33% and almost 100% of global production across nearly all critical raw materials. Only one critical mineral records production concentration below one-third.
This concentration has increased the strategic importance of minerals required across Europe’s industrial base. Lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and manganese remain essential for battery manufacturing, while copper underpins electricity transmission, renewable-energy systems, industrial electrification and data centres. Rare earth elements are required for permanent magnets used in electric motors, wind turbines, defence systems and precision electronics, while gallium and germanium have become increasingly important for semiconductors, telecommunications and military technologies.
The role of raw materials now extends across renewable energy, defence, aerospace, medical equipment, robotics, telecommunications infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, placing mining and mineral processing at the centre of European industrial policy.
Critical Raw Materials Act sets domestic production targets
The European Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) reflects the shift toward strengthening regional supply chains by identifying 34 critical raw materials, including 17 strategic materials considered essential for renewable energy, digital technologies, aerospace and defence industries.
Under the legislation, the European Union aims to achieve domestic extraction equivalent to at least 10% of annual strategic raw-material consumption by 2030, while European processing capacity should meet 40% of demand and recycling should contribute 25%. The framework also seeks to ensure that no more than 65% of annual consumption of any strategic material originates from a single non-EU country.
Achieving these targets remains challenging because Europe possesses significant geological potential and established mining expertise but continues to face lengthy permitting procedures, fragmented regulation, local opposition, elevated energy prices and limited availability of early-stage project finance.
Processing capacity represents a further constraint. Domestic mining alone does not establish an integrated supply chain, as concentrates frequently require export for refining, chemical conversion or advanced materials production. This gap is particularly evident in lithium, graphite, rare earths and battery materials, where downstream processing remains concentrated outside Europe.
Investment requirements extend beyond mine development
Developing competitive supply chains requires investment across mining, mineral processing and supporting infrastructure, including concentrators, refineries, hydrometallurgical plants, recycling facilities, ports, grid connections and industrial logistics. Many of these facilities are highly energy intensive and depend on long-term access to competitively priced low-carbon electricity. Elevated electricity costs within Europe can significantly affect the economics of mineral-processing projects before geological considerations become the principal factor.
The report highlights Greece as a country with an established extractive sector, diverse geological resources and proximity to European industrial markets through its port infrastructure. Its mining industry includes bauxite, nickel-bearing ores, magnesite, bentonite, perlite, marble, industrial minerals and precious-metal resources.
Companies operating within the sector include Metlen Energy & Metals, Imerys Greece, Grecia Industrial Minerals, S&B Industrial Minerals-linked operations and Hellas Gold, reflecting participation in both industrial minerals and metal supply chains. Greece’s bauxite and alumina industries are considered strategically important as Europe seeks to reinforce domestic aluminium production, while industrial minerals support construction, manufacturing, agriculture and environmental applications across export markets.
Copper and gold projects gain strategic significance
The presence of Hellas Gold, a subsidiary of Eldorado Gold, places Greece within Europe’s expanding portfolio of domestic producers of gold and copper. The company’s operations include the Olympias Mine and the Skouries Copper-Gold Project in the Halkidiki region.
The Skouries development has gained additional strategic importance because it combines gold production with prospective copper output at a time when electrification is driving increasing demand for the metal. Copper projects with existing permits, infrastructure and proximity to European consumers are becoming increasingly valuable as new global mine supply remains difficult and capital intensive to develop.
Greece could also strengthen its position as a regional processing and logistics hub linking European markets with raw-material projects across the Western Balkans, Türkiye, North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. The report notes that transforming this geographic advantage into sustained investment will require accelerated permitting, predictable taxation, improved grid access and consistent long-term industrial policy.
Conventional minerals remain essential to industrial development
During the conference, Athanasios Kefalas, chairman of Imerys Greece and former president of the Association of Mining Companies, emphasised that minerals outside the EU’s critical raw-materials list remain indispensable to economic activity. He highlighted the importance of aggregates, cement raw materials, steelmaking inputs, perlite, talc, bentonite and attapulgite for housing, transport infrastructure, manufacturing, automotive production and recycling.
Although these commodities attract less geopolitical attention than battery minerals or rare earth elements, shortages or rising transport costs can delay construction projects and increase industrial investment costs. The distinction is significant because criticality reflects economic importance and supply risk rather than overall industrial necessity. Materials including limestone, clay, aggregates and cement feedstocks continue to underpin roads, railways, ports, electricity networks, factories and residential development.
The transition to renewable energy will also require substantial volumes of conventional construction materials. Wind farms depend on steel, cement, aggregates and copper, while solar installations consume glass, aluminium, steel and industrial minerals. Electricity transmission infrastructure requires copper, aluminium, transformers, concrete foundations and specialised electrical steel, while battery storage projects require buildings, cabling, transformers, fire-protection systems and grid infrastructure alongside electrochemical storage technologies.
Financing and processing capacity remain major constraints
The report identifies financing as one of the principal obstacles facing European mining developments. Projects frequently carry geological, permitting, construction, commodity-price and social-acceptance risks over development periods extending beyond a decade. Commercial lenders often require strategic investors, long-term offtake agreements, public guarantees or substantial sponsor equity before providing financing for extraction and processing assets.
Although designation under the Critical Raw Materials Act may improve access to coordinated permitting and financial support, investors continue to require verified mineral resources, realistic capital-cost estimates, credible construction schedules, competitive energy arrangements and binding customer commitments before projects become financeable.
Long-term offtake agreements with European battery manufacturers, automotive companies, defence contractors and technology firms are expected to play an increasingly important role by providing revenue visibility while enabling buyers to document the origin, environmental performance and carbon intensity of raw materials.
Recycling is expected to strengthen resilience across batteries, permanent magnets, copper, aluminium and industrial scrap streams, but it cannot eliminate the need for new primary mining because end-of-life material volumes remain insufficient to satisfy rapidly expanding demand. Europe’s long-term strategy therefore depends on establishing integrated value chains linking mining, mineral processing, refining, energy supply, transport infrastructure, manufacturing, recycling and traceability systems.
For Greece and the wider South-East European region, this creates opportunities to expand beyond raw-material production into higher-value processing and specialised materials manufacturing. Projects combining mineral resources with reliable low-carbon electricity, transport infrastructure, technically proven processing technologies and long-term European customers are expected to play an increasingly important role in regional industrial development.
Control over mining, refining and mineral-processing capacity is becoming increasingly significant for the location of battery manufacturing, semiconductor production, electrical equipment, defence industries and advanced manufacturing, placing Europe’s future industrial autonomy alongside the development of commercially viable mines, processing facilities and integrated supply chains.
