Europe Has Zero Minerals

Into Europe: The world is on the brink of a technological revolution, and at the heart of it are raw materials that cannot be replaced.
Critical Raw Materials are now the focus of a new gold rush in a race for technological and economic supremacy. With industrial policy focused on securing rare earth metals, lithium or Cobalt, China, the USA, and European Union are developing partnerships to access those minerals.
So can Europe secure the minerals it needs for its industry?
Music:
Epidemic Sounds
© All Rights Reserved.
Contact information:
Email: [e-mail]
Twitter: / europeinto
Patreon: / intoeurope
Main resources used:
Europe's Critical Raw Materials: ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/r...
IEA report on Critical Raw Materials: www.iea.org/reports/the-role-...
IEA Critical Minerals Demand: www.iea.org/news/clean-energy...

[@IntoEurope]

Hi guys,

[@Nurg1982]

Funny how a game called civilization made this abundantly clear throughout the series. When I played it, I came to realize how important resources were and happily invaded the ai to obtain it, never realizing how this happens for real as well. Politics is shaped around the access to resources

[@spartanparty3894]

My understanding is that China has 90% of the world's production, not supply. Rare earths are everywhere, they are just incredibly expensive to harvest, and it is usually not cost effective at first. The Chinese state invested heavily in rare earth production to get over the initial cost-revenue deficit, but hypothetically any country could do this. Sparcely populated countries like the US, Australia, Canada, and Russia are well positioned for this, but it is one of those rare economic things that

[@alexsteven.m6414]

The potential use of gold by some nations and the reasons why people might choose to invest in gold, such as its historical value, potential as a hedge against inflation, and diversification benefits. However, it emphasizes that investing in gold carries risks and may not be suitable for everyone, and investors should consider their investment objectives, risk tolerance, and financial situation before making any decisions.

[@jnonya7743]

"The European Union only has 6.8% of the world's landmass, so it makes sense that it has fewer raw materials."

[@aitor9185]

There are also plans to open up Lithium mines in southwestern Spain (Extremadura). The regional government there also fought hard to have the Lithium processed on site, rather than have it shipped elsewhere. Some European incentives could have helped make that happen faster.

[@fra604]

I honestly just wanted to point out the map you used, there's a great attention to details. Even French Guyana is shown as part of the EU

[@alexanderguesthistorical7842]

Interestingly, mining as an industry died in the 1980's and 1990's in the UK. But there WERE mines in Britain for lots of different elements and compounds. In fact I believe gypsum is one of the few raw materials still mined here. Copper and tin were famously mined in Cornwall right from the earliest days. And to my knowledge mining only stopped here because it became "uneconomic", with mines across the globe opening up where there were cheaper labour costs, government subsidised minerals etc. So may be, with all the rare earth metal needs, and even the need for copper, mining for elements will return to the UK???

[@jerry9548]

6:36

[@dutchrjen]

RARE EARTH MINIRALS ARE NOT RARE. They're actually common in the Earth's crust.

[@warcrimeenjoyer219]

Not a European but here in America we used to produce rare earth elements but the massive problem is the environment disaster that goes along with production

[@reviewer_random]

china : start monopolizing minerals

[@jimgraham6722]

The most important are iron (for steel), alumina (for aluminium), silica (for silicon) and carbon. Fortunately these are widely available. Rare earths and many other more exotic materials are replaceable, albeit sometimes at a cost.

[@ilovemokona2]

Several point of interest:

[@cyrilio]

Isn’t Chile a copper producing country? I know they have massive copper mines

[@nomennescio4604]

Yes, well the info the makers of this video work with are where things like rare earth minerals are currently mined, not necessarily where they are located.

[@randyyansaud1797]

in theory, recycling would and should be one of the many things to do in europe, but in practice, it may not be that easy, especially when it comes to recycling anything seemingly hitech, where components would use very specific metal alloys in varying quantities, which may make them difficult if not impossible to separate and reuse, as opposed to just melting some copper wires or steel bars.

[@colevano]

Corporations in US & Europe , 1980s : omg let's build all our shit in China so that it's super cheap

[@betgamble8906]

Worlds biggest iron ore mine in Sweden just made a MASSIVE rem find!

[@jorsm.3893]

I really hope to see that Europe can become a leader when it comes to recycling those materials. You mention export controls by China, I hope we will have even stricter export controls ourselves since we need to be so much more careful with the raw materials we do have and with our scrap. I think in the past we have often shipped electronic waste to other non-EU countries, I would hope that this will not occur anymore. I think a first step should be to create giant storage facilities/piles for old electronics if we don't already have them, so that we can store old solar panels/e-waste for 20 years if we have to until recycling catches up. If we are really serious about recycling rare earths it should be prohibited to export certain types of electronic waste.