Commission staff working document - accompanying the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - The raw materials initiative : meeting our critical needs for growth and jobs in Europe {COM(2008) 699}
Date: 2008-11-04
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: commodity price, economic and social cohesion, economic development, employment policy, raw material, sustainable development

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 4.11.2008 
SEC(2008) 2741 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

accompanying the 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

The raw materials initiative — meeting our critical needs for growth and jobs in Europe 

{COM(2008) 699} 

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Consumers of processed mineral 
materials:

- Construction
- Chemicals
- Basic metals
- Metal products
- Motor vehicles
- Machinery and equipment n.e.c.
- Non-metallic mineral products
- Electrical machinery

Value added: 1,324.9 billion €
Persons employed: 29,650.8 th.

EU economy

- GDP: 9,838.2 billion €
- Persons employed: 216,464 th.

Annex 1 — Mineral raw materials value chain in EU27 (2005). 

Consumers of mineral raw materials:
- Basic metals
- Non-metallic mineral products
- Construction
- Chemical
- Other mining and quarrying

Total production: 2,551 billion €
Persons employed: 18,394.2 th.

Trade in:

- Basic metals
- Non-metallic mineral products
- Chemical
- Other mining and quarrying

Total exports: 209.9 billion €
Total imports:  156.1 billion €
Trade balance: 53.8 billion €

Trade in mineral raw materials

- Mining of metal ores
- Other mining and quarrying

Imports: 28.1 billion €
Exports: 14.0 billion €
Trade balance: -14.1 billion €

Domestic mineral raw materials 
from mining

- Mining of metal ores
- Other mining and quarrying

Production value: 45 billion €
Persons employed: 295.6 th.

Recycling of:

- metal waste and scrap

Production value: 16.3 billion €
Persons employed: 70.4 th.

- non-metal waste and scrap

Production value: 10.5 billion €
Persons employed: 71 th.

Notes: 

-The sectors in the various boxes are the selected “clients” for the production of the sectors in the previous step of the value chain: “mining …” and “other mining …” sell their 
production to “basic metals”, “non-metallic mineral products”, etc., which, in turn sell their production to “construction”, “chemicals”, etc.  
-Consumers of raw materials and processed minerals include intra-branch consumption: for example sales from “other mining and quarrying” to “other mining and quarrying” 
-Only top consumers have been included, while Inter-industry transactions have been calculated from Input-Output tables for a series of EU countries 
-External trade: COMEXT; Recycling: NACE Rev1 code 37; Value added and employment: Eurostat SBS and National Accounts; Data on scrap trade value not available. 

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Annex 2.  

Table 1: Top three producing mining regions for selected industrial minerals 2006). 
Second 
% 
72 
EU 
India  
60 
Turkey  
60 
India  
55 
54  USA  
53  USA  
51  Mexico  

First 
Fuller’s earth  USA  
China  
Graphite 
Feldspar 
EU 
China  
Barite 
Perlite 
EU 
Turkey  
Boron 
China  
Fluorspar 

%  Third 
12  Senegal  
16  Brazil  
10  Thailand  
12  USA  
19 
Japan  
21  Argentina  
17  EU 

%  Cum % 
4 
88
10 
86
7 
77
7 
74
10 
83
12 
86
7 

Zircon 
Australia  
Phosphate  Morocco  

49 
49 

South Africa  
China  

28  USA  
Israel  
18 

Bentonite 
Vermiculite  South Africa  

USA  

EU 

44 
43  USA  

24  Russia  
22  Ukraine  

16  USA  
22  EU 

37 
32 

EU 
Turkey  

31  USA  
30 

Botswana  

28  Brazil  
24  Canada  

China  
China  

EU 
Russia  

Talc 
Magnesite 

Kaolin 
Diamonds 
(gemstones) 
Potash 

Gypsum 
Salt 
Sulphur 

Canada  

30 

EU 

17  Belorussia  

EU 
EU 
USA  

23  USA  
22  USA  
19 

Canada  

Iran  

18 
20  China  
17  China  

10 
4 

6 
14 

11 
21 

19 
13 

16 

11 
18 
16 

75
87

71
74

79
64

75
78

67

63
52
60
52

Source: DG Enterprise and Industry calculations based on World Mining Data (2008). 

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Annex 2. 

Figure 1: Metal concentrates and ores — net imports as % of apparent consumption (*). 

%

100

90
80
70
60

50
40
30
20

10
0

Antimony

Titanium minerals
Platinum
Tantalum
Rare earth minerals
Molybdenum
Vanadium
Niobium
Manganese ore
Cobalt
Iron ore

Copper

Tin

Zinc

Bauxite

Chromium ores and concentrates

* Note: 

- metal concentrates produced at or nearby mining site;  

- net imports = imports-exports; 

- apparent consumption calculated as EU27 (mine production + imports - exports). 

-  source:  DG  Enterprise  and  Industry  calculations  based  on  data  from  British  Geological  Survey  (2008)  and 
Bureau de recherches géologiques et minières (BRGM; 2008) 

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Annex 2. 

Table 2: Top three producing mining regions for selected metallic minerals (2006). 

% 

Second  %

Third 

%  Cum. % 

First 

Metal 
Rare Earth 
concentrates  China  
Niobium- 
Columbium  Brazil  

95  USA  

2 

India  

90  Canada  

9  Australia  

3  South Africa  
4  EU 
17 - 
14 Russia  
11 USA  
11 Canada  
15 Australia  
9  Japan  
18 Mozambique  
29 Chile  
31 Canada  
20 EU 

South Africa   79  Russia  
South Africa   77  Russia  
60  China  
Chile  
60  Korea  
China  
60  Brazil  
57  Kyrgyzstan  
52  Japan  
48  Canada  
45  South Africa   39 USA  

87  Bolivia  
84  Canada  
83  Japan  
79  USA  

China  
Peru  
Japan  
Russia  
South Africa   45  China  
Australia  

Antimony 
China  
Tungsten 
China  
China  
Gallium 
Germanium  China  
Rhodium 
Platinum 
Lithium 
Indium* 
Tantalum **  Australia  
Mercury 
Tellurium 
Selenium* 
Palladium 
Vanadium 
Titanium 
Rhenium**  Chile  
Chromium 
South Africa   41  Kazakhstan  
Bismuth 
China  
Tin 
China  
Cobalt 
Congo D.R. 
Copper 
Chile  
China  
Lead 
Molybdenum  USA  
Australia  
Bauxite 
China  
Zinc 
Brazil  
Iron ore 
Cadmium 
China  
Manganese  China  
Russia  
Nickel 
Peru  
Silver  
South Africa   12  China  
Gold 

41  Mexico  
40 
Indonesia  
36  Australia  
36  USA  
35  Australia  
34  China  
34  Brazil  
28  Australia  
22  Australia  
22  Korea  
21  Gabon  
19  Canada  
17  Mexico  

17 Kazakhstan  
27 India  
21 Peru  
28 Peru  
11 Canada  
8  Peru  
19 USA  
23 Chile  
12 China  
13 Peru  
21 China  
16 Japan  
20 Australia  
16 Australia  
14 China  
11 Australia  

38 Russia  
42  South Africa   18 Canada  
42  USA  

2 

1 

3 
4 

7 
6 
4 
10 
9 
5 
4 
17 
19 
7 
12 
12 
17 
8 
18 
14 
11 
7 
13 
22 
11 
11 
15 
11 
16 
13 
13 
11 

99 

100 

93 
92 
100 
100 
96 
92 
85 
78 
83 
90 
100 
87 
91 
95 
72 
76 
76 
80 
82 
58 
51 
67 
79 
57 
52 
58 
49 
57 
48 
44 
34 

Data source: World Mining Data (2008). * = World refinery Production (USGS, 2008) ** = USGS (2008) 

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Annex  2  —  Table  3:  Selected  “high-tech  materials”  applications  for  “green 
technologies”. 

Problem 

Solutions 

Raw materials (application) 

Fuel cells 

Platinum, palladium 

REE* 

Cobalt 

Hybrid cars 

Samarium (permanent magnets) 

Future Energy 
supply 

REE: Neodynium (high performance magnets) 

Silver (advanced electromotor generators) 

Platinum, palladium (catalysts) 

Alternative energies 

Silicon, gallium (solar cells) 

Silver (solar cells, energy collection/transmission) 

Gold, silver (high performance mirrors) 

Energy storage 

Lithium, zinc, tantalum, cobalt (rechargeable 
batteries) 

Advanced cooling 
technologies 

REE  

New illuminants 

REE, Indium, Gallium: LEDs, LCDs, OLED 

Energy saving tyres 

Various industrial minerals 

Super alloys (high 
efficiency jet turbines) 

Rhenium 

Emissions prevention 

Platinum, palladium 

Emissions purification 

Silver, REE 

Nanotechnology 

Silver, REE 

Energy 
conservation 

Environmental 
protection 

High precision 
machines 

Miniaturisation 

Tantalum, ruthenium (MicroLab solutions) 

New IT solutions 

Indium (processors) 

IT limitations 

Wolfram (high performance steel hardware) 

RFID (hand-held 
consumer electronics) 

Indium, REE, silver 

* = Rare Earth Elements (Scandium, Yttrium and lanthanides). DG-ENTR selection based on data provided by 
RWTH Aachen, 2008; BRGM, 2008 and USGS (2008). 

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Annex 3 — Major global producers of selected high-tech metals (2006). 

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Annex 4.  

Figure 1: Real price indices of metallic minerals and crude oil — 1948-2007  

Real price indices of metallic minerals and crude oil - 1948-2007 

Oil, mixed basket

Metals

Korean war

Vietnam war

       Oil crisis
   1st            2nd

Privatizations and/or opening up 
to Foreign Direct Investment

Falling 
world 
demand

Rising 
Asian 
demand

Entry of new 
oil producers

Nationalizations

Domination of the "Seven Sisters" cartel

Excess metal capacity

Second 
Iraq War

1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

)
0
0
1
=
0
0
0
2
(
$
t
n
a
t
s
n
o
c
s
e
c
i
d
n
i
e
c
i
r
P

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Source:  Radetzki  M  (2008),  A  Handbook  of  Primary  Commodities  in  the  Global  Economy,  Cambridge 
University Press. Numbers until 2007 updated by the author; 2008 (dotted) represents estimates of Commission 
services  as  consolidated  2008  indices  are  not  available  (the  values  related  to  the  2008  indices  are  based  on 
2008/Q2 and Sept 2008/2 data; see http://www.imf.org/external/np/res/commod/index.asp) . 

Note to the graph: UN’s Index of Manufactured Export Prices from Industrialised countries in US Dollars is used 
as  deflator  (base  year  2000  =  100).  Metal  Price  index:  Copper  (26.64%);  Aluminium  (36.33%);  Iron  ore 
(12.46%); Tin (1.38%); Nickel (10.38%); Zinc (5.88%); Lead (2.08%); Uranium (4.84%). Oil index: Average of 
equally  weighted  U.K.  Brent,  Dubai  and  West  Texas  Intermediate.  Sources:  IMF,  UNCTAD,  United  Nations, 
World Bank.  

Note: The cyclical nature of the metal industry can be observed throughout the 20th century. 
Since  the  mid-seventies,  real  metal  prices  have  displayed  a  gradually  declining  trend, 
generally  believed  to  be  the  result  of  excess  capacity  and  the  dematerialisation  of  the 
industrial economies. In periods of higher demand for raw materials, supply may not be able 
to keep pace, resulting in higher prices. In the mining industry it typically takes many years 
between identifying economically viable deposits and the start up of actual mine production. 
This is due to many factors, such as raising sufficient investment capital, long planning and 
permit phases, potential bottlenecks in infrastructure, time lags in delivery of mine equipment, 
and lack of  skilled staff. Once  supply  catches up with demand due to increased production, 
recycling,  substitution  and/or  innovation,  prices  usually  decline  again,  and  excess  supply 
capacity may occur. 

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Annex 4. 

Figure 2. Global mining exploration expenditure (with 2008/2009 estimates) 

$
S
U
n
o
i
l
l
i
b

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Source: Raw Materials Data, Stockholm, 2008 

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Annex 4. 

Table 1. Examples of non-energy raw material export restrictions. 

Raw material 

Country 

Aluminium (ores, concentrates, unalloyed unwrought metal) 

China 

Cokes 

Ukraine, China 

Copper (ores, concentrates, intermediates, unwrought metal, master 
alloys) 

China 

Ferroalloys of chromium, nickel, molybdenum and tungsten  

China  

Ferrous scrap 

High-tech metals (Rare earths, Tungsten, Indium) 

Iron ore 

Russia, Ukraine 

China 

India 

Magnesium (ores, concentrates, intermediates, unwrought metal) 

China 

Manganese 

China 

Molybdenum (ores, concentrates, intermediates, unwrought metal)  China 

Nickel (ores, concentrates, unwrought metal, electroplating 
anodes) 

China 

Non-ferrous scrap  

Raw hides and skins, wet-blue leather 

Yellow phosphorus (chemical) 

Wood 

e.g. China, India, 
Pakistan, Russia  

e.g. Argentina, 
Brazil, India, 
Pakistan 

China 

Russia 

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Annex 4. 

Figure 3. Overview of mergers and acquisitions in the mining sector. 

Value MUSD

300000

250000

200000

150000

100000

50000

0

BHP & 
Rio Tinto

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
H1

Source: Raw Materials Data, Stockholm, 2008 

Note: The possible merger between BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto is currently under investigation by the European 
Commission. A final decision is expected early January 2009. 

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Annex 5 — Market structure of metal mining companies. 

Market structure metal mining companies (in numbers; left) and market control (in percentages; right).  

Source: Raw Materials Group, Stockholm (2008). 

Note:  While  companies  specialising  in  construction  minerals  are  notably  SMEs  supplying 
local  or  national  markets,  producers  of  industrial  minerals  and  metallic  minerals  operate 
globally. The metal mining industry is largely dominated by privately owned Trans National 
Companies (TNCs), or mining “majors”1. These “majors” represent only a small fraction of 
the 4000+ companies, with production facilities including mining, smelting and refining. The 
“majors” represent about 83% of the total value of all non-fuel minerals production, whilst the 
remaining  17%  is  accounted  for  by  about  1000  medium  sized  and  small  companies.  The 
majority  of  the  metal  mining  companies  consist  of  “junior”  companies,  essentially 
specialising  in  exploration.  If  juniors  find  a  deposit,  it  is  usually  sold  to  a  major  mining 
company,  capable  of  raising  the  necessary  capital,  experience  and  competence  to  invest  in 
actual production.  

World top 10 companies in non-energy minerals mining in 2007. 

Rank 
world 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 

Company name 

Headquarters

Brazil 
Vale 
Austr./UK 
BHP Billiton Group  
UK 
Anglo American plc  
UK/Austr. 
Rio Tinto plc  
USA 
Freeport McMoran  
Russia 
Norilsk Nickel  
Chile 
Codelco 
Switzerland 
Xstrata plc  
Canada 
Barrick Gold Corp  
Grupo Mexico SA de CV   Mexico 

Share of company, % of 
value of world mine prod. 
of all minerals 2007% 
5.45 
4.92 
3.76 
3.59 
3.28 
2.91 
2.88 
2.72 
1.61 
1.56 

Cumulative 
share of World 
2007 % 
5.45 
10.37 
14.13 
17.73 
21.01 
23.92 
26.80 
29.52 
31.13 
32.69 

Revenue M$ 
2007 

33115 
47473 
25470 
33518 
16939 
17119 
16988 
28542 
6332 
7078 

Source: Raw Materials Data, Stockholm, 2008. Companies ranked by approximate share of total value of world 
mine production of non-energy minerals in 2007.

1 

World Investment report 2007, United Nations (2007). 

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Annex 6 — Resource-rich countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (2000-2005). 

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Annex 7 — Policies and programmes for securing non-energy raw materials — 
examples from US and Japan 

US 

According to the Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Act (50 U.S.C. 98 et seq.) the 
US  is  conducting  i.e.  “scientific,  technologic,  and  economic  investigations  concerning  the 
development,  mining,  preparation,  treatment,  and  utilization  of  ores  and  other  mineral 
substances that (A) are found in the United States, or in its territories or possessions, (B) are 
essential to the national defence, industrial, and essential civilian needs of the United States, 
and  (C)  are  found  in  known  domestic  sources  in  inadequate  quantities  or  grades.  These 
investigations are carried out in order to (A) determine and develop new domestic sources of 
supply  of  such  ores  and  mineral  substances;  (B)  devise  new  methods  for  the  treatment  and 
utilization  of  lower  grade  reserves  of  such  ores  and  mineral  substances;  and  (C)  develop 
substitutes for such essential ores and mineral products”. 

In 2008 the US National Research Council released a report2 on the criticality of non-energy 
raw minerals for the US economy. In order to determine criticality, the mineral’s importance 
in  use  and  its  availability  (supply  risk)  were  assessed.  Of  the  11  raw  materials  that  were 
analysed, 5 were assessed as being ‘highly critical’: indium, manganese, niobium, rare earths 
and  the  platinum  group  metals.  The  proposed  approach  is  presented  as  an  aid  to  decision 
makers in taking appropriate steps to mitigate restrictions in the nonfuel mineral supply. It is 
important to note that the report only addressed in a limited way the mineral needs that are 
specific  to  the  needs  of  the  defence  industry.  The  US  Department  of  Defence  maintains  a 
stockpile of strategic materials to supply the needs of US national defence. In the 1990s, the 
Congress authorised its disposal, but as a result of reported shortages of certain raw materials, 
such as titanium, it recently directed the Department of Defence to review its current stockpile 
disposal  policy,  which  may  result  in  additional  adjustments  to  inventory  and  sales  plans 
(expected late November 2008). 

In another response to the growing need for minerals information, the U.S. Geological Survey 
(USGS) is conducting a cooperative international project to assess the world’s undiscovered 
nonfuel  mineral  resources,  the  Global  Mineral  Resource  Assessment  Project  (GMRAP).  It 
aims “to develop and test methods of assessing undiscovered mineral resources on land”. Its 
primary objectives are to “outline the principal land areas in the world that have potential for 
selected  undiscovered  mineral  resources  and  to  estimate  the  probable  amounts  of  those 
mineral  resources  to  a  depth  of  one  kilometre  below  the  Earth’s  surface”.  The  first  three 
commodities for which global undiscovered resources will be assessed are copper, platinum-
group  metals,  and  potash;  others  will  follow.  GMRAP  is  currently  an  8-year  project,  which 
began  in  2002.  Geological  surveys  from  around  the  world  are  involved  in  this  initiative, 
including the French Geological Survey (BRGM)3. 

2 

3 

Minerals,  critical  minerals,  and  the  US  economy  (2008),  National  Research  Council,  the  National 
Academies Press. 
USGS Fact sheet FS-053-03. 

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Japan 

Early  in  2008  the  Japanese  government  published  its  “Guidelines  for  Securing  National 
resources”4,  which  includes  the  statement  that  the  Japanese  Government  “will  support  key 
resource acquisition projects by promoting active diplomacy and helping these projects to be 
strategically  connected  to  economic  cooperation  measures,  such  as  official  development 
assistance  (ODA),  policy  finance  and  trade  insurance”.  Potential  projects  must  fulfil  the 
criteria 1) “projects to acquire exploration or development interests” and 2) “projects related 
to long-term supply contracts that contribute to supplying …resources to users in Japan”. 

In  2004  the  Japanese  government  created  the  Japanese  Oil,  Gas  and  Metals  National 
Cooperation  (JOGMEC)5.  Among  JOGMEC’s  important  activities  are  providing  financial 
assistance to Japanese companies for mineral exploration and deposit development, gathering 
and analysing information on mineral and metal markets to better understand supply risk, and 
managing Japan’s economic stockpile of rare metals. JOGMEC defines rare metals as those 
that  (a)  are  essential  to  Japanese  industry,  sectors  such  as  iron  and  steel,  automobiles, 
information  technology,  and  home  appliances  and  (b)  are  subject  to  significant  supply 
instability.  JOGMEC  took  over  and  manages  the  Japanese  rare-metal  stockpiles  in 
cooperation with private companies, with the goal of having stocks equivalent to 60 days of 
domestic  industrial  consumption.  Stocks  exist  for  seven  materials:  chromium,  cobalt, 
manganese,  molybdenum,  nickel,  tungsten,  and  vanadium.  JOGMEC  is  closely  observing  7 
other raw materials.  

4 
5 

http://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/data/nBackIssue200803.html 
http://www.jogmec.go.jp/english/index.html 

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Annex 8 — Critical raw materials: a preliminary assessment 

In  recent  times,  there  have  been  more  and  more  assessments  of  the  importance  and  even 
criticality of the supply of non-energy raw materials to national economies, such as: 

•  Minerals, Critical minerals and the US economy. National Research Council, 2008. 

•  Global commodities: a long term vision for stable, secure and sustainable global markets. 

HM Treasury, 2008. 

•  Trends der Angebots - und Nachfragesituation bei mineralischen Rohstoffen. RWI Essen, 

ISI, BGR, 2007. 

•  Perspectives on the environmental limits concept. DEFRA, UK, December 2007. 

•  Material Security. Ensuring resource availability for the UK economy. Resource Efficiency 

Knowledge Transfer Network, UK, 2008. 

Different  methodologies  are  being  applied  to  determine  the  criticality  of  raw  materials, 
making use of various criteria. What they have in common is that they consider a whole range 
of factors in relation to the importance of raw materials for the economy and in relation to the 
availability and reliability of supply. These supply risk factors can have multiple dimensions: 
geological,  technical,  environmental  and  social,  political  and  economic.  Examples  are: 
concentration of production at company or country level, increased demand, degree of import 
dependence,  by-product  or  not,  recycling  potential,  substitution  possibilities,  political  and 
economic stability of producing countries, etc. It is usually a combination of these factors that 
is instrumental in defining the criticality of a raw material, for a specific time scale.  

In  some  countries  assessments  are  being  carried  out,  but  are  not  always  publicly  available6. 
However,  it  can  be  assumed  that  they  are  at  the  basis  of  such  policies  as  stockpiling  (e.g. 
Japan)  or  protectionist  strategies  (e.g.  China),  so  the  selection  of  raw  materials  that  are 
covered  by  these  policies  and  strategies  could  be  interpreted  as  being  “critical”  for  their 
economies. 

Analysis of the available information reveals that various raw materials, such as aggregates, 
iron  ore  and  copper,  are  considered  to  be  essential  for  the  economies  of  the  developed 
countries, but not necessarily critical at this moment in time. However, it is noticeable that a 
number  of  assessments  and  policies  consider  in  particular  “high  tech”  materials  such  as 
niobium,  platinum  and  titanium  as  (potentially)  critical  for  the  economies  of  developed 
countries. This is because they have a number of high tech applications that are important for 
the  economy  and  because  they  are  marked  by  a  higher  degree  of  supply  risk  than  the  more 
“traditional” base and ferrous metals:  

First of all, high tech metals are important for the EU economy and are characterised by 
sudden demand peaks which are strongly driven by the production of new products based on a 
new technology ("disruptive technology"); for instance mobile phones use tantalum, and flat 
panel  display  TVs  (TV-LCD)  use  indium.  It  is  expected  that  new  Light-Emitting  Diodes 

6 

Study  in  the  field  of  non-energy  raw  materials.  Prepared  by  RPA.  RWI  Essen  for  the  European 
Commission. September 2008.  

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(LEDs)  making  use  of  gallium  will  consume  50%  less  than  incandescent  light  bulbs  using 
tungsten  wire,  which  would  make  possible  low  consumption  lighting  and  a  major  potential 
reduction in global electricity consumption by 2025. High tech materials are increasingly at 
the  basis  of  innovative  “green  techs”,  associated  with  renewable  energy  (i.e.  Cu-Indium-
Gallium-Selenium  or  CIGS  photovoltaic  "thin-film"  technology  for  solar  cells)  and  with 
minimising  greenhouse  gas  emissions.  For  instance,  platinum  group  metals  are  used  for 
catalysts  in  car  exhausts  and  future  hydrogen-proton-exchange  fuel  cell  (PEMFC)  cars, 
lithium-cobalt  batteries  for  electric-hybrid  cars,  rhenium  and  ruthenium  superalloys  for  the 
production  of  more  energy-efficient  aircraft  and  land-based  single-crystal  turbine  blade 
turbines,  and  titanium  with  composites  in  the  next  generation  B787  or  A  350  commercial 
aircraft. 

Secondly,  there  are  high  supply  risks.  High  tech  metals  are  often  by-products  of 
mining/processing,  which  means  that  their  availability  is  largely  determined  by  the 
availability  of  the  main  product.  Due  to  its  low  or  very  low  elasticity  (sometimes  as  a  by-
product  of  a  by-product,  as  in  the  case  of  rhenium  and  hafnium),  production  cannot  adapt 
easily to demand, which increases the crisis risk, such as the rush for tantalum in 2000 due to 
the boom in mobile phones. For some there is a high degree of concentration of production at 
country level, and they are subject to various protective measures taken by third countries.  

The need for Europe to focus particularly on the critical role of high tech metals is confirmed 
by the French geological survey BRGM. The work of the French geological survey focuses 
on  the  higher  degree  of  criticality  of  high  tech  metals  based  on  three  criticality  criteria: 
possibility  (or  not)  of  substitution,  essential  role,  and  potential  supply  risks.  In  their 
analysis7,8,9,10  they  identify  short  to  medium  risks  to  their  supply  of  a  number  of  materials: 
antimony,  chromite,  cobalt,  germanium,  gallium, 
lithium,  magnesium, 
molybdenum,  platinum,  palladium,  rhodium,  rare  earths,  rhenium,  titanium,  and 
tungsten. 

indium, 

This list might be expanded to take in five more materials (chromite, manganese, niobium, 
tantalum and vanadium) which have also been targeted by the above-mentioned US-report 
and  Japanese  stockpiling  policy  and  for  which  there  is  a  high  degree  of  concentration  of 
producing countries.  

Conclusion:  Clearly,  the  above  list  is  only  illustrative.  It  should  be  assessed  further  on  the 
basis of a methodology agreed by Member States and other stakeholders, and bearing in mind 
that  criticality  assessments  are  a  dynamic  concept,  which  may  lead  to  very  different  results 
depending on the timing of the analysis, the geographical scope, short, medium to long term 
view, technological developments, etc.  

7 

8 

9 

10 

Deschamps Y., Bailly L., Bouchot V., Gentilhomme Ph., Hocquard C., Lerouge C., Milesi J.P., Nicol 
N., Ollivier P., Pelon R., Salpeteur I. avec la collaboration de Save M., Thomassin J.F. (2002) - Métaux 
rares à forte demande industrielle. Tantale, germanium, indium et gallium. État de l’art en économie, 
traitement des minerais, gîtologie. BRGM/RP-51558-FR, 284 p., 22 fig., 45 tabl., 32 ann; 
Hocquard,  C.  et  Samama,  J .C,  2006,  Cycles  et  supercycles  dans  le  domaine  des  matières  premières 
minérales,  analyse  des  risques  et  des  comportements  des  acteurs,  pp.63-81,  in  Les  techniques  de 
l’industrie minérale, Société de l’industrie minérale, n°29, mars 2006; 
Hocquard, C., 2008, Strategic metals, high-tech metals, environmentally green metals: A convergence. 
Abstract, 33rd International Geological Congress 2008 - Oslo, Norway, 6th-14th August; 
Hocquard,  C.,  2008,  Les  nouveaux  matériaux  stratégiques,  métaux  high  tech,  métaux  verts,  vers  une 
convergence, Agence Rhône-Alpes pour la maîtrise des matériaux (ARAMM) in Mag'Mat, n°26, avril-
juin 2008, pp.18-30. 

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