The European metals sector welcomed a move by the EU on Thursday to include copper and nickel as strategic materials for the first time and ensure speedier permits and easier access to capital, but said more could be done to secure supplies.
Mining and metals companies, including Sweden’s Boliden, cheered EU plans in the CRMA to provide streamlined permits and access to financing for projects pegged as strategic. The VDM Association of German Metal Traders and Recyclers was among those pushing for aluminium and zinc to be included. The EU already produces about 15% of its needs for copper, well above the overall 10% target set by the EU for strategic minerals, but the situation could deteriorate, the CEO of Aurubis, Europe’s biggest refined copper producer, said.
Note that this means EU policymakers are continuously assessing their industrial needs and reclassifying minerals for their strategic or critical role & lack therein. Question is, what of the Africa region and individual countries? Are region's policymakers happy to be led ?
Trisseswe I see a small mention of Ni but not Cu ?