A high-ranking European Union official recently visited a key metals facility in central Greece following the EU's decision to step up its own production of crucial minerals and lessen its reliance on China.
Stéphane Séjourné, an executive vice president at the European Commission, inspected an aluminum factory scheduled to begin extracting gallium, a valuable metal used in cutting-edge semiconductors, 5G antennas, solar panels, and military surveillance systems.
This Greek project is one of many initiatives introduced by Séjourné, all aimed at strengthening the EU's independence in essential minerals amidst growing demand for advanced materials and escalating international tensions.
In a post online after the visit to Greece, Séjourné emphasized the significance of the site as one of the 47 strategic projects picked to enhance critical raw materials production and decrease reliance on foreign nations.
The COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine, and trade disputes, such as China's restrictions on high-tech materials last year, have revealed vulnerabilities in global supply chains, as outlined by European officials.
The gallium enterprise in Greece, the sole one of its kind on the roster, intends to utilize local bauxite reserves and incorporate extraction with the nation's existing aluminum infrastructure.
When operational, the facility operated by Greece's Metlen Energy & Metals company is anticipated to yield up to 50 metric tons yearly beginning in 2027, enough to meet most of Europe's estimated demand, according to EU and Greek officials.
Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos referred to this as a considerable strategic investment, directly tied to Greece's and the entire European continent's autonomy and security.
The EU will contribute from a 22.5 billion euro ($24.2 billion) venture into mining and processing initiatives for 17 critical minerals spread across 13 EU member states, crucial elements in various products such as electric vehicles, battery components, lightweight transport alloys, and medical devices.
During a presentation in Brussels, Séjourné expressed the need for public backing for domestic mining projects, emphasizing the goal to not shift from dependency on fossil fuels to critical raw materials, with a warning against Chinese lithium mirroring Russian natural gas dependence in the future.
The strategic projects are distributed among EU nations like Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden, encompassing materials such as aluminum, copper, cobalt, graphite, lithium, germanium, gallium, manganese, magnesium, nickel, the platinum group metals, rare earth elements, and tungsten.