CRM Act: Sustainable Revival of EU’s Mining, Primary & Secondary Metal Production Industries
Under the pressure from the world’s toughest environmental and social regulatory framework, the EU’s mining and metals extracting industries almost disappeared in the last decades. But this has only led to Europe becoming dependent on imports produced with total disregard to the very same standards. China is now ten years ahead dominating a multitude of markets and leaving Europe prey to supply-chain disruptions. All this is being played out against the EU’s competitiveness and long-term reliable prosperity without making our Planet a better place.
In response to this situation, the European Commission initiated The Critical Raw Materials (CRM) Act which was approved by the European Parliament on December 12, 2023. This provides EU Industry the framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. It is a great example of political leadership that will enable the revival of abandoned industries and strengthen the competitiveness of the EU’s economy in its transition towards decarbonization and digitalisation.
The CRM Act will incentivize the European industry to source more locally, trigger more investments in EU’s mining, primary and secondary metals production, and cause the EU’s trading partners to adhere to the unified set of ESG standards.
In this context, we are happy to note that the Romanian Government – through its National Agency for Mineral Resources (NAMR) – has just opened a tender round for domestic mining licenses. This is a bold strategic move that allows Romania to align with global trends while re-industrializing its economy.
Verde Magnesium will participate in this round of tenders, bringing to fruition five years of work to develop a fully integrated and sustainable project for both mining and metallic Magnesium production in Romania. Specifically, the company aims to bring back to life the exploitation of brucite deposits in Budureasa, Bihor County – with the goal of producing its first ton of metallic Magnesium in Romania by 2027, then reaching up to 90kt/year by 2032-2034. To this end, Verde Magnesium has contracted the most modern extraction technologies and executed tests in the US and China, confirming its capability to produce zero carbon metallic Mg. These results were provided to NAMR.
But primary metal production is only half the story. Verde Magnesium has also built commercial partnerships with global automotive and aluminium industrial sectors that are actively looking for sustainable supply. Groups with combined revenues of over USD 500 billion – together with blue-chip international investors – have expressed interest supporting its project. Accordingly, the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) – an EU agency involved in the implementation of the CRM Act – selected Verde Magnesium’s project in their investment pipeline.
Verde Magnesium is confident they have the best value proposition for the Romanian State as they have already proved the concept, and transparently indicated the resources and capabilities to be allocated towards a successful and sustainable implementation. Verde Magnesium’s offer in the NAMR tender round will be the 1st step towards the creation of a long-term reliable strategic partnership with Romanian State and local communities – that will in turn revolutionise the supply chains of large sections of Europe’s industrial base.
