The European Commission has designated 46 strategic raw-material projects for accelerated permitting and support to access public and private funding. The projects span 16 EU member states and cover 15 of the 17 critical raw materials on the EU list, including copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite, rare earths, magnesium and tungsten. The move is pitched to help meet targets in the Critical Raw Materials Act that aim for EU domestic mining, processing and recycling to supply 10%,

The European Commission has designated 46 strategic raw-material projects for accelerated permitting and support to access public and private funding. The projects span 16 EU member states and cover 15 of the 17 critical raw materials on the EU list, including copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, graphite, rare earths, magnesium and tungsten. The move is pitched to help meet targets in the Critical Raw Materials Act that aim for EU domestic mining, processing and recycling to supply 10%, 40% and 25% of annual demand respectively by 2030. The Commission has mobilized over €2.0bn (~$2.24bn) of public funds so far but said last year’s projects advanced slowly; developers warned in August that, without emergency funding, more projects could fail. The 46 projects are estimated to need about €21.1bn (~$23.7bn) of capital, to be raised from public and private channels.