Rare earths and critical raw materials

Scandium, lanthanum, praseodymium, neodymium, are some of the so-called rare earth elements, fundamental for new technologies along with other raw materials that have been declared critical, for their industrial importance: lithium, tungsten, magnesium, cobalt...

These raw materials have never been abundant and as a result of the crisis unleashed by the pandemic, being able to obtain them has become even more complicated.

A determining factor for regions such as Europe, which is highly dependent: although many of them are present in its soils, it has to import them at a rate of 90%. The new solution proposed by Santiago Cuesta, Director General of the ICAMCYL Foundation, is for Europe to exploit ("sustainably") the rare earths and critical materials within its borders to reduce dependence on the outside world.

Although Spain has reserves in all these minerals, some of the exploitation projects that have been proposed have not come to fruition. At the beginning of the year, the High Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha confirmed the veto to the Matamulas project. A deposit in the region of Campos de Montiel of 240 hectares that are currently farmland, under which there is monacite, a mineral with high percentages of praseodymium and neodymium.

Cuesta López stresses that any project to exploit rare earths and critical raw materials in Spain must respect the environment. But it also calls for an "urgent debate to mobilize resources and accelerate permits" and dialogue with environmental organizations. On the other hand, Europe cannot be held back in this area, nor can it continue to depend on exploitation in other countries which often do not respect environmental or labour standards.