15
Figure 15: Countries accounting for the largest share of the global supply of CRMs
Russia Palladium 46%
France Hafnium 43%
USA Beryllium 90% Helium 73%
China Antimony Baryte Bismuth Fluorspar Gallium Germanium
87% 44% 82% 64% 73% 67% 57%
Turkey Borate 38%
Indium
Thailand Natural rubber 32%
Magnesium 87% Natural graphite 69% Phosphate rock 44% Phosphorus 58% Scandium 66% Silicon metal 61% Tungsten 84% Vanadium 53% LREEs 95% HREEs 95%
DRC Cobalt 64%
Rwanda Tantalum 31%
Brazil Niobium 90%
South Africa
Iridium Platinum Rhodium
85% 70%
83% Ruthenium 93%
Source: European Commission ( http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/raw-materials/specific-interest/critical_en )
Figure 15 maps out the active sources of supply of CRMs as understood by the EU. 50 As of 2017, the EU does not recognise Australia as a major supplier of CRMs (to the EU) although United States Geological Survey data recognise the importance of Australia is a significant supplier globally of CRMs. This is intriguing considering WA has commercial reserves of almost all of the CRMs. Clearly there is an opportunity for WA to provide a secure and diverse supply of CRMs to the EU and in return receive offtake revenues and investment in local secondary production facilities. Having EU investment in WA can act as a passive form of defence in times of security uncertainty. There are advantages to WA of having a broad and diverse investment community. The EU can benefit from local expertise and processing costs, affordable energy and water costs
and a reliable, ethical and environmentally sensitive supply of all CRMs. The EU recently established a European Battery Alliance (EBA) to focus on securing access to raw materials for batteries. This Alliance incorporates active membership from across industry to drive the technological changes required for the EU. Interestingly in a recent presentation 51 from the EBA, the assumption is that the EU can acquire all the raw materials they need from the market without making strategic investments in mines or local processing facilities. As other countries aim to control the entire supply chain originating from the mine it remains to be seen whether sufficient resource volumes actually reach an open market. There is the incentive for European companies to invest more upstream to secure sufficient resources for the future.
50 European Commission (2017), COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the 2017 list of Critical Raw Materials for the EU, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ TXT/?uri=CELEX:52017DC0490 . (Accessed: 01 May 2018) 51 InnoEnergy (2018), "EIT InnoEnergy plays pivotal role within the European Battery Alliance", InnoEnergy, 03 May 2018, http://www.innoenergy.com/eit-innoenergys-role-within-the-european-battery-alliance/ . (Accessed: 30 May 2018)
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