The European Union intends to store rare minerals, in precautionary measures, in order to withstand any possible violations of supply from geopolitical stress. According to the newspaper Financial Times, on Saturday, quoting a document of the European Commission.
There are 17 types of minerals known as rare ground minerals. Most of them are not very rare in reality, they are widespread around the world, although they are rarely found in large unprocessed deposits in order to effectively extract them.
This is called “rarely”; Because it is very difficult to share each other. The rupture of chemical ties that bind it in nature may require more than 100 stages of processing and large amounts of strong acids.
China is a source of about 70 percent of rare minerals in the world. As for Myanmar, Australia and the United States, they are the sources of most of the rest. But China performs chemical treatment of 90 percent of rare ground minerals in the world; He clarifies all his own raw, as well as almost all Myanmar cheese and about half of the production of the United States.
The project indicated that “the European Union is faced with expectations regarding the risks of complex and degradation, characterized by growing geopolitical stress, including conflicts, with the consequences of climate change, environmental degradation and various and electronic threats.”
The Financial Times added that the document warned that high -risk conditions are due to “activities increased by activists in the field of electronic piracy, electronic infiltrators and groups sponsored by states” without mentioning some names or other details.
The newspaper said that the draft document, which should be published within a few days with the possibility of modifications, indicates that there is a “limited joint understanding of the main goods necessary for preparing for crises against the backdrop of quick risk expectations.”
And the European commission reported in March last year, the strategy for the readiness of the European Union and called on the state -member states to increase their reserves of biological minerals and equipment and encourage their citizens to maintain sufficient main supplies of at least 72 hours in the event of an emergency.
This strategy was developed to prepare a block to encounter risks such as natural disasters, electronic attacks and geopolitical crises, including the possibility of armed aggression regarding the countries of the European Union.
In the last Wednesday, the United States announced the launch of a vital mineral initiative with Australia, India and Japan as part of their efforts to counteract China.
In a joint statement published on Wednesday after negotiations in Washington, the state foreign ministers announced the launch of the Quartet for the Basic Minerals initiative, which they called “partnerships to increase economic security and collective flexibility through cooperation to ensure and diversify the supply chains”.
Four ministers stated that in a joint statement published upon the end of their meeting, they decided to release a joint initiative in the field of rare minerals, as part of an “ambitious expansion of our partnership … aimed at ensuring the safety and diversification of supplies.”
The ministers provided only a few details about this initiative, but they made it clear that its goal is to reduce dependence on China, which has rich reserves of strategic minerals.
The dominance of China is more obvious in 7 types of rare ground minerals, which largely stopped its exports since the beginning of April, namely: Dessprosium, Cadolinium, Lutetium, Tanarium, Scandium, Turbium and Endoma.
These minerals are almost exclusively extracted in China and Myanmar, and they are the most complex chemical head. For minerals, such as DessProsium and Turbium, which are known as rare minerals of heavy land used in thermal magnets, China oil refineries produce up to 99.9 percent of global supplies.
In China, there are one of the best rare heavy land -sized deposits in the world. These deposits are located in a special rich belt in a valley near Longnanan, south of China, and stretch west to the extreme north of Myanmar.
