News | Euromines

PRESS RELEASE: Auditors identify key actions to unlock Europe’s raw materials industry.

Brussels, 02 February 2026 – The European Court of Auditors’ report on critical raw materials published today sets out a clear diagnosis of the conditions needed to strengthen Europe’s mining and processing industry and secure the raw materials required for the EU’s clean tech ambition. The report confirms that progress depends on targeted action in three key areas: exploration, financing and permitting. Addressing these enablers would significantly improve the delivery of the Critical Raw Materials Act and unlock Europe’s raw-materials potential.

Key findings highlighted by the auditors include:

Exploration in the EU remains underdeveloped, with only early steps taken to assess Europe’s resource potential and limited activity in high-risk targeted exploration.

Access to finance remains challenging, as mining and integrated mining–processing projects are perceived as high risk due to long timelines, price volatility, energy costs and regulatory uncertainty.

Bankability is constrained by the absence of stable, standards-based markets, limiting long-term investment and access to finance.

Permitting procedures remain lengthy, complex and fragmented, continuing to delay projects despite improvements introduced by the Critical Raw Materials Act.

“The path to a stronger European raw-materials industry is clear,” said Rolf Kuby, Director General at Euromines. “Investment in exploration, bankable projects and efficient permitting can deliver secure and competitive supply chains.”

Euromines and its members are ready to support the EU in its ambition to increase the value chain resilience. This report supports our key message to foster the development of standards-based markets, support long-term investment, and adopt a permitting omnibus that delivers legal clarity, streamlines procedures across EU environmental legislation and ensures faster, more predictable decision-making — while maintaining high environmental and social standards.

Read the European Court of Auditors’ report here.

About Euromines

Euromines, the European Association of Mining, Metal Ores & Industrial Metals, is the voice of European metals and minerals mining industry. Our primary goal is to promote responsible industry practices and ensure that mining receives appropriate consideration in EU policymaking. As a collaborative network, Euromines brings together the Secretariat and Members to assess the impact of European and international policies on the industry, shaping unified positions and actions. Representing both large and small companies, a well as their subsidiaries across Europe and beyond. Euromines advocates for a sustainable and competitive mining sector.

For media enquires, please contact:

Anna Zanetti

zanetti@euromines.be

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Snapshots

Cypriot presidency programme’s priorities (Jan.1 – June 30, 2026)

Competitiveness and Industry

Simplification and burden reduction to improve the business environment, reduce compliance costs, and foster investment.
Advancing the Industrial Accelerator Act and Clean Industrial Deal, strengthening strategic value chains and regulatory predictability for energy-intensive sectors.
Supporting SMEs and energy-intensive industries through better access to finance, digital adoption, and competitiveness assessments.

Energy and Strategic Autonomy

Building a resilient Energy Union, improving grid infrastructure, interconnections, and energy storage
Promoting digitalisation and AI in energy systems and advancing the Electrification Action Plan to lower costs and enable renewable integration.
Reviewing state aid and competition rules to maintain global competitiveness.

Environment and Circular Economy

Advancing the European Green Deal, Climate Adaptation Plan, and Water Resilience Strategy and preparing the EU Circular Economy Act (2026).
Modernising REACH chemicals regulation

Funding opportunities

The Presidency will shape the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework, prioritising competitiveness, energy, research, and industrial resilience important for mining investments.

Policy Updates

Second round of application for Strategic Projects

The second cut-off date for applications for Strategic Projects under the CRMA was 15 January 2026 (12:00 CET). Projects must demonstrate technical feasibility, expected production volumes, and sustainable implementation.

See the current list of approved strategic projects for examples in practice.

RESourceEU

On 3 December 2025, the European Commission presented the RESourceEU Action Plan (summary), a strategic initiative to secure Europe’s access to critical raw materials, reduce dependencies on battery‑related, rare earth and defence‑critical inputs by 30–50% by 2029, and advance the implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). The plan introduces a €3 billion financing facility to accelerate Strategic Projects, a CRM Permitting Act to streamline approvals and provide legal certainty, and measures to strengthen market infrastructure through transparent pricing and liquidity support. It also promotes integrated European value chains by clustering extraction, processing and manufacturing capacities, fostering “Made in Europe” solutions, and improving investment conditions through early‑stage de‑risking and guarantee schemes.

Ahead of the publication, Euromines engaged extensively with Cabinets and DG GROW, ensuring several of its key recommendations were reflected in the final plan. These include accelerated permitting for strategic projects, improved access to finance, preservation and expansion of EU primary and secondary raw materials production, strengthened resilience against supply disruptions, and faster diversification of critical raw material supply chains. This outcome marks a significant step forward for Europe’s raw materials sector and demonstrates the impact of coordinated industry advocacy.

Euromines’ Omnibus on Permitting

In October 2025, Euromines published its Omnibus on Enabling Effective Procedures, calling for faster, simpler, and predictable environmental permitting. Key proposals:

Simplified, outcome-oriented permitting across Member States.
Balanced implementation between environmental protection and competitiveness.
Streamlining the Water Framework Directive, clarifying Natura 2000 and Nature Restoration Regulation, revising Industrial Emissions Directive, and avoiding overlaps with the Soil Monitoring Directive.
Introducing Strategic Zones to fast-track sustainable mining investments.

Energy & Climate

The second half of 2025 was shaped by three major developments for Energy and Climate policy in carbon markets: the launch of discussions on the post‑2030 EU ETS reform, the adoption of the revised indirect cost compensation guidelines, and the review and extension of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). At the same time, energy costs remained high on the European Commission’s competitiveness agenda, notably with the publication of the Clean Industrial Deal (CID) on 26 February 2025 and its subsequent implementation throughout the year.

During this period, Euromines engaged constructively with EU institutions and stakeholders and achieved important milestones to improve the framework conditions for the European mining sector.

The sections below provide a more detailed overview of Euromines’ engagement across these core Energy and Climate policy areas, highlighting key developments, milestones achieved, and the remaining challenges for the sector.

Carbon markets

Indirect Cost Compensation: After four years of intense advocacy efforts on DG COMP and on the relevant Commissioners’ Cabinets, Euromines, supported by its members that advocated their national authorities, DG Competition published the updated Indirect Cost Compensation Guidelines.

The revised guidelines applicable from 2025 to 2030 are a drastic improvement in particular:

Inclusion of sectors 07.10 (iron ore mining), 07.29 (non-ferrous metals mining), and 20.15 (manufacture of fertilisers).
Maintaining Indirect Cost Compensation beyond 2030.
Newly added sectors will qualify for a state‑aid intensity of 75%, while sectors that were already eligible will benefit from an increased rate of 80%.
Compensation for indirect emissions will become available starting in 2025.

This result is very relevant for the mining sector as Indirect Cost Compensation in absence of a reform of the electricity market design is the most significant support mechanism to support decarbonisation and the uptake of direct electrification.

The EU ETS will face a major post‑2030 overhaul, as the current reduction trajectory would drive the cap close to zero by around 2040. With CBAM progressively replacing free allocation and expanding its scope, industry needs a recalibrated system that safeguards competitiveness while maintaining investment capacity and ensuring carbon leakage protection.

Euromines actively advocated for its position on EU ETS-post 2030 and CBAM through meetings with DG CLIMA and relevant Commissioners’ Cabinets. The ETS revision is expected to be out in July 2026, while CBAM is scheduled to be adapted in scope starting with a proposal in 2028. Euromines’ sees this as an opportunity to ensure maintaining a high level of carbon leakage protection, inter alia by:

Maintaining free allowances beyond 2030
Keeping, if not extending, Indirect Cost Compensation, as electricity remains the main commodity to decarbonise, with fossil sources setting the electricity price well into the mid-2030, as showed in this study.
Pursuing a balanced approach to the CBAM scope extension: while it is a useful tool for some sectors, for others the functioning of the ETS is better suited to support their competitiveness while pursuing climate neutrality.

The revision of CBAM and the report for future inclusion, instead, have been published mid December. Euromines, actively engaged with relevant Commissioners’ Cabinets. As a result:

Magnesia inclusion in the CBAM scope has been postponed for other two years, until the next report in Q4 2027.
Goods from mining activities and fertilisers (e.g. potassium chloride) have not been selected for further consideration.
The Commission has not identified additional relevant precursors for fertilisers beyond those already covered by the current CBAM scope.
Mining as such remains excluded from the CBAM scope.

On ETS implementation for the second half of the trading period until 2030, Euromines launched a major advocacy campaign to avoid the 50% reduction of the fallback benchmarks, together with other impacted sectors. The foreseen reduction would significantly raise compliance costs for energy-intensive industries and undermine the sector’s decarbonisation investment capacity, competitiveness and would put the objectives of the CRMA, RESourceEU, and NZIA at risk. The revision is expected to be out in April 2026.

Clean Industrial Deal Implementation:

The Clean Industrial Deal (CID), launched on 26 February 2025, aims at strengthening EU competitiveness while accelerating industrial decarbonisation. It focuses on lowering energy costs, boosting clean manufacturing, supporting energy‑intensive industries, and securing access to raw materials.

On of the pillar of the CID, the Industrial Accelerator Act, expected to be published end of February, aims at enhancing competitiveness and productivity for energy-intensive industries. Euromines, throughout the entire year, have been actively working on this topic, engaging with Cabinet of Commissioner Valdis Dombrovski and Cabinet of EVP Stéphane Séjourné, asking to:

Speed up permitting procedures for industrial decarbonisation.
Identify and promote priority industrial decarbonisation projects and clusters.
Create and protect lead markets for European low-carbon products.

Other key initiatives to highlight include the Electrification Action Plan, expected in Q1 2026, aiming at lowering energy prices and strengthening security of supply, and the White Paper on deeper electricity market integration, foreseen in May 2026, which will set the strategic direction for the next phase of EU electricity market reform.

Euromines developed a position paper asking for:

Reform the market design where electricity producers benefitting from inframarginal rates need to share this responsibility with the off takers.
Adequate long-term investment support.
Upgrading infrastructure and streamlining permitting procedures to build up the necessary infrastructure.

Euromines joined also forces with other energy-intensive industries and developed a statement, under the lead of Eurofer, asking to:

Review the electricity market design.
Introduce a KPI of 50EUR/MWh for the Commission to achieve as the maximum total electricity cost for industry, not sure wholesale price.

Magnesite & Magnesia Assembly

Carbon Markets

Euromines and Assembly members work jointly with Energy Committee members to advocate for our position. On CBAM scope extension, the focus was on avoiding the potential inclusion of precursors (magnesia, potash and metal concentrate) in the CBAM scope. For this purpose, Euromines and members of the Magnesite Assembly actively engaged in meetings with different representatives of DG TAXUD advocating for keeping magnesite and magnesia production in the scope of the ETS as the more appropriate tool to prevent carbon leakage given the myriads of applications in which magnesia is used.

While magnesia and refractories will not be immediately included under the CBAM scope, DG TAXUD provided an outlook for the next scoping-exercise in 2027 (with a follow-up legal proposal on scope-extension in 2028 for a gradual phase-in of CBAM after 2030) to consider Magnesia inclusion either:

Vertically as a precursor for steel and aluminium precursors, the products considered as feasible for inclusion are calcined lime, dolime, magnesia, alumina.
And/or as horizontal expansion: DG TAXUD considers it technically feasible to consider including certain shortlisted goods in the CBAM sectors such as pulp and paper, glass, ceramics (including refractories) and ferro-alloys.

The assessment report is expected to be published in Q4 2027. Euromines will engage constructively in the run-up to the report, advocating for structural reviews as to:

An export-solution to offset carbon prices paid in EU production by granting “negative” CBAM certificates to refund exporters for carbon costs incurred that are not equally priced in their export markets.
An approach of inclusion, starting with the full range of downstream products first before including stepwise upstream goods to avoid circumvention through resource-shuffling or downstream-good substitution through third-country imports.
A solution to indirect CO2-costs for electrification taking into consideration the indirect emission costs and widen the eligibility of indirect cost compensation to the production also of mined precursors.

JRC Sevilla

INCITE is a new element of the revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) to tackle industrial transformation and identifying and evaluating the environmental performance of emerging techniques (ETs). Euromines and several members participated to the 2nd INCITE Workshop in Sevilla (October 2025) dedicated to the CLM sector (cement, lime, magnesia) and their presentations were focused on technical innovation in the magnesia industry. The review of the CLM BREF will start in early 2027 and Euromines, set up and internal Task Force to coordinate our positions and strategy throughout the CLM BREF process.

Magnesite & Magnesia criticality

Euromines’ effort to enter magnesite and magnesia as critical raw materials in the list of the CRM Act continues, supported by the Magnesite & Magnesia assembly. A productive and constructive engagement with DG GROW and SCRREEN3 on data shortcomings in previous assessments supported by data gathering and external studies on magnesia production, consumption and market development in Europe allowed widen the scope of the assessment from magnesite alone to a combined view on magnesite and magnesia. The next phase will keep us busy until September 2026: starting with a data validation workshop in February, the Magnesite and Magnesia assembly will analyse factsheets and provide additional information and engage with the stakeholders involved to consider the critical strategic nature of magnesia for the European raw materials supply base.

Sustainability

The Sustainability Committee’s work in 2025 was marked by simplification and burden reduction across the whole reporting and compliance landscape: CSRD, CSDDD, the Taxonomy. The very first attempt of the Commission to create a simplification omnibus had its starting point around these files – and Euromines engaged as a constructive partner to reduce burden and improve conditions for doing business in the EU. At the same time, global developments took off – with the creation of a Standards Based Markets initiative at G7 level and the Critical Minerals Production Alliance that both provide levers to even the level playing field and ensuring access to finance for responsible and resilient projects

Omnibus I

After intense negotiations, our advocacy efforts, targeting several DGs and relevant cabinets of Commissioners, achieved major improvements for our sector under the first omnibus proposal and the final agreement negotiated by the European Parliament and the Council:

Sector-specific reporting standards for which mining was singled out have been removed.
Climate Transition Plans are no longer required.
Scope adjustment: Companies in scope now include those with 1,000 employees and a €450 million turnover threshold, significantly reducing the number of affected entities. Additionally, listed SMEs are excluded from the directive.
Wave 1 companies: Large companies will not face any additional phase-ins for 2025/2026. Starting in 2027, only the drastically simplified ESRS will apply.

EFRAG on ESRS simplification

Euromines continued to engage with EFRAG, technical advisor to the Commission for sustainability and financial reporting, on the ESRS revision, as EFRAG has been appointed in March to lead on the simplification effort by Commissioner Albuquerque. Euromines participated to the consultation (DL 29/09) asking for a general simplification of the standards and data reporting with specific requests on individual data points.

EFRAG’s simplification exercise led to a proposal to the Commission adjusting:

Double Materiality Assessment (DMA):

Streamlined list of topics no longer mandatory (AR 16).
Report only material sub-topics.
Improved aggregation and disaggregation criteria. Clarification that a full DMA is not required annually unless significant changes arise.
Streamlined list of topics no longer mandatory (AR 16).
Flexibility to disclose at topic level instead of detailed IROs level when granular reporting is not required

Datapoint reduction:

Reduction of the most granular Minimum Disclosure Requirements (MDRs) under the topical standards and remotion the obligation to justify the absence of Policies, Actions and Targets (PTAs) or to provide timetables for their future adoption, to allow a more concise reporting framework.
Data point reduction in the topical horizontal standards.
Better readability and more flexibility to present information by the possibility of including an executive summary at the beginning of the sustainability statement.
The European Commission is expected to adopt the delegated act by mid-2026. Until then, it will be crucial to closely monitor developments within DG FISMA and other relevant stakeholders to stay ahead of any changes or emerging details.

Taxonomy

Euromines has actively engaged with DG FISMA and Cabinet of Commissioner Albuquerque on the shortcomings of the taxonomy criteria developed for mining – and as a result, mining is not included in the EU Taxonomy, as the Technical Screening Criteria proposed by the Platform on Sustainable Finance were ultimately not fit for purpose and did not reflect the operational and technological realities of the sector. As the Platform begins a new mandate, Euromines will continue to closely monitor its work, but will prioritise other, more effective avenues to improve access to finance for the European mining industry.

Standard-based markets

Euromines actively engages on Standards‑Based Markets, working closely with the OECD as well as with DG TRADE and DG GROW to help drafting a coherent approach in support of a level playing field and increased resilience and transparency of niche-markets to provide tools that help with viability of projects in defence of outpricing practices. Euromines objective is that these initiatives are aligned with the strategic interests of the EU mining sector and ultimately will equip the G7+ (EU, Australia etc.) with tools to ramp up our own raw materials value chains.

On this purpose, Euromines presented a position paper providing input on how a functioning standard-based market for raw materials should focus:

Guaranteeing access to finance and adequate liquidity.
Reducing back-end risks for investors, protect from outpricing practices.
Fostering reliability, price and cost visibility.
Build trust through more than ESG alone: strong technical requirements, transparent offtake preferences, and credible local‑sourcing commitments all play a key role.

Value Chain Cooperation – a new DG COMP initiative

DG COMP has been working on an initiative to foster cooperation along the value chain to better integrate the demand perspective into existing supply-side policies: after all, without demand, the supply side measures envisaged will not be sufficient to increase the resilience of our value chains.

Euromines stressed that while markets may be functioning, they are not currently operating in Europe’s favour, exposing domestic producers to structural disadvantages. Supply‑side measures alone without a demand perspective is insufficient, so that the set-up requires a more comprehensive industrial policy that considers that global competitors will not reduce production simply because Europe deploys subsidies, premiums, or Buy‑European mechanisms.

Euromines argued that demand integration through cooperation shall eventually lead to a price‑competitive production in the medium term – and must be aligned with the G7 Standards Based Markets initiative. For this, rather than focusing narrowly on each mineral in isolation, the policy approach should centre on the type of industrial ecosystem EU aims to build – and based on this provide a suite of development mechanisms that can be applied in a targeted manner to remedy shortcomings and bottlenecks.

Environment

Circular Economy

The European Commission ran a public consultation on the New Circular Economy Act initiative from 1 August until 6 November 2025. Euromines fed into this round of feedback as well as into the targeted consultation that followed. Euromines’ main asks (see our Position Paper) focused on the needs for a balanced approach between primary and secondary raw materials, to unlock permitting procedures, to make recycling a business case, and on the importance of the “no one-size-fits-all” approach (smart risk-based rules as the Extractive Waste Directive and the BREF for the Management of Extractive Waste should not be touched).

The legislative act will take the form of a Regulation aiming at enhancing resource efficiency and promoting the use of secondary materials. Commission adoption is planned for Q4 2026.

Water

The file related to the Protection of groundwater against pollution and environmental quality standards in the field of water policy (linked to the Water Framework Directive) is reaching near-adoption. The EU co-legislators found an agreement during the fourth trilogue that took place on 23 September (originally scheduled for 15 July). The provisional text will be put for final adoption by the EP on 19 January 2026 (tentative date), while the date of the Council vote is still to be announced. Once adopted, Member States will be required to transpose the directive by 21 December 2027. Despite intensive industry advocacy to raise awareness and improve the Water Framework Directive via this file, the trilogue agreement strengthens the “non-deterioration” definition and introduces only 2 very limited derogations.

However, Euromines’ advocacy efforts were echoed. The Commission’s RESourceEU Action Plan published on 3 December 2025 foresees the release of a guidance document in Q1 2026, to enable a simpler and more harmonised implementation in Member States of the EU law on environmental permitting, including aspects related to water and the mining sector. The Commission will also review and revise the Water Framework Directive by Q2 2026. Euromines is preparing input and outreach for both initiatives.

Soil Monitoring Law (SML)

After the co-legislators’ provisional agreement in April 2025, Council adopted the SML text on 30 September 2025. Ahead of the EP ENVI vote of 20 October, Euromines and other associations reached out to MEPs, pushing them to reconsider the SML in view of the EU simplification efforts. The text was eventually formally adopted in EP Plenary on 23 October and published in the EU Official Journal on 26 November. Member States will have three years for transposition into national legislation (until late 2028).

Overall, Euromines notes significant improvements in the SML compared to the initial proposal. It leaves more flexibility for implementation at Member State level, recitals clarify that permitting procedures will not be hampered, and provisions are more realistic (no one-out-all-out principle, non-binding sustainable target values at EU level, consideration of background concentrations and natural occurrence of metals). As for the next steps, Euromines will focus on the national implementation of the SML.

Metal Mining BREF (MIN BREF)

In accordance with the reviewed Industrial Emissions Directive, the drafting process of the Best Available Techniques (BATs) reference document (BREF) for the metal mining sector officially started in 2024. A BREF is the reference for setting emission limit values and issuing operating permits for industrial installations in EU Member States. It describes applied techniques, present emissions and consumption levels, techniques considered for the determination of best available techniques as well as BAT conclusions and emerging techniques. It is the result of the exchange of information carried within a Technical Working Group (TWG) composed of national authorities, ECHA, NGOs, industry, and led by the Commission (EU-BRITE).

During the second half of 2025, the MIN BREF process was fully dedicated to improving EU-BRITE’s questionnaire proposal. Over summer and until the beginning of November, Euromines provided 3 waves of comments on the first draft questionnaire while maintaining close engagement with the MIN BREF authors (EU-BRITE). The second draft proposal was released for comments on 12 November, and Euromines pushed its position during the workshop on questionnaire finalisation that followed (9-10 December).

In parallel, the second site visits took place in Austria in November 2025. Such field trips aim at providing on-the-ground insights to the TWG, by showing local conditions, emissions, techniques used and possible challenges. Representatives from EU-BRITE, European Commission (DG ENV), Member States (AT, ES, FR, HU, SE), NGOs (EEB), technology providers (CECE) and industry (Euromines) took part to the trip. The TWG was able to visit one Competent Authority along with 2 mines: Erzberg (Iron) and Mittersill (Tungsten). We trust that these visits gave valuable understanding of on-site realities to the TWG, and should be complemented with further visits showing other local conditions in different areas of the EU. We invite operators to get in touch with their national authorities and encourage them to organise such visits, to emphasise the diversity of the sector in the context of the MIN BREF.

Ongoing MIN BREF priorities relate to the identification of CBI fields in the questionnaire and KEIs for chemicals, supporting the drafting of the BREF descriptive chapters, and the preparation for the questionnaire testing period that will run from mid-January until mid-February. Euromines is contributing on all fronts, with the aim of obtaining a questionnaire that will reflect the diversity and complexity of the mining sector without increasing the data reporting burden on operators, to eventually collect appropriate data and draft a realistic MIN BREF document.

As for the next steps, the final questionnaire will be released to kick off the official data collection phase in the first half of March, for completion by selected operators by the second half of June. The ensuing data assessment phase will culminate in a workshop in Q4 2026, before the release of the first MIN BREF draft in Q1 2027.

Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) 2.0

A year and a half after the publication of the revised IED (15 July 2024), several aspects of the revision are still a work in progress, and the consequences of the new text are not all fully defined yet. While Member States are tasked to carry the implementation of the new IED by 1 July 2026, the Commission committed to delivering several implementing acts and decisions. After a consultation carried out earlier in 2025, which received Euromines’ feedback, the Commission released the reviewed draft BREF guidance on 19 December. Together with other associations, Euromines is currently reviewing the document and will provide its input during the upcoming Article 13 Forum (March 2026).

It is worth noting that the EU simplification efforts, and particularly the Environmental Omnibus of 10 December 2025, are impacting the task of the Commission. As the Omnibus foresees amendments regarding the Environmental Management Plan (EMS) (deletion of requirements for chemicals inventories, indicative transformation plans and obligation for independent audit), we can expect that the work on the EMS implementing act will now be able to move forward, and that the delegated act on the content of transformation plans content will be deleted.

Health & Safety

Euromines Safety Awards 2025

Held on 8 October 2025 in Brussels, the Euromines Safety Awards Ceremony celebrated outstanding safety achievements in mining. Keynote speaker Charlotte Grevfors Ernoult (EU-OSHA) stressed innovation and prevention as drivers of safer workplaces.

Gold award – Atalaya Riotinto: Field Leadership Activities fosters proactive safety through audits, observations, and “Stop and Talk” sessions, tracked digitally.
Silver award – Boliden Mineral AB: Blast Safe uses real-time access control and location’s checks to ensure all personnel are clear before blasting.
Bronze award – LKAB Mekaniska AB: Safety Lock for Silo Renovation employs drones, VR, and remote locks to eliminate silo entry.

Social and Sectoral Dialogue

Euromines in conjunction with IndustriALL concluded the SODISEES project on 31 October 2025 after two years of collaboration, publishing a report on the importance of social dialogue. The report, “Social Dialogue for Sustainable Extractives Industries in Europe’s” central message: by working together, workers, employers, and public authorities can build stronger industries and secure good, sustainable industrial jobs for the future.

The report outlines concrete measures to strengthen social dialogue and accelerate sustainable practices in Europe’s extractive industries. Please find the completed report here.

Health & Safety on site visit

A two day visit was held in Poland where our Health and Safety committee members visited Lubin and Rudna Mining Plants from KGHM as well as an underground visit in Lubin Mine. The visit was an excellent opportunity to visit see a variety of flagship locations and machinery: discharge point, conveyor belt, remote control room, maintenance room, underground training area, soon-to-be-launched VR training centre.

Informal Coalition on Permitting

An informal coalition on permitting (ICP) has been established, jointly led by Euromines and IOGP. This broad alliance brings together diverse stakeholders who face significant challenges related to permitting procedures.

To better understand these issues, the coalition developed a tailor-made questionnaire aimed at identifying specific bottlenecks affecting companies. Based on the findings of the questionnaire, the coalition issued a joint statement calling for inter alia:

A coherent and overarching permitting framework based on changes in underlying base directives.
Streamlined procedures to reduce duplication and legal uncertainty.
Adequate resources, capacity, and modern digital tools for national authorities.
The introduction of enforceable time limits, digital tracking, and accountability mechanisms.

The work of the ICP is independent from RESourceEU and other initiatives but aims to provide an overarching picture of permitting issues – and map overlaps, shortcomings and contradictions that still need to be addressed. To that end, the ICP will organise a permitting dialogue roundtable with the Commission and publish a report on the permitting experience of its participating sectors.

Euromines visibility

In the second half of 2025, Euromines refreshed its website, transforming it into a comprehensive one‑stop shop for information about the mining industry in Europe. The Secretariat took part in more than 15 public events, acting both as speaker and moderator. With the cooperation of Euromines members, the team also organised two flagship events: the Euromines Safety Awards in October and the pilot edition of Mining 1.0.1. All these owned events were proudly sponsored by the SMI. In parallel, the Secretariat contributed to the development of programmes and topic‑specific agendas for several other high‑level initiatives.

On 4 July, Euromines Energy Committee visited the Werra potash plant, hosted by our German member K+S Gruppe. The visit focused on the Werra 2060 Project, exploring both the underground operations and the processing facilities, highlighting how innovation in raw materials production can contribute directly to the EU climate and sustainability objectives. The project’s key priorities include:

Increasing energy efficiency across operations
Reducing water consumption by transitioning from wet to dry processing
Minimising tailings disposal and environmental impact
Decarbonising production processes
Investigating underground farming as a sustainable post-mining idea

The Werra 2060 Project stands as a concrete example of how Europe’s extracting industries can deliver on the continent’s climate neutrality goals, promote strategic autonomy, and actively engage with local communities, all whille preserving natural resources.

Alongside event‑driven engagement, the team continued to expand Euromines’ communication and outreach tools. Several new episodes of the Euromines podcast were recorded in 2025, with the first releases expected at the end of January. In addition, the Secretariat developed an internal and external communication strategy designed to reinforce its advocacy efforts and ensure greater alignment across the network.

Euromines members were equally active in shaping the political debate, participating in key high‑level fora ranging from the Delphi Economic Forum, to the Raw Materials Week, and Resourcing Tomorrow, among others.

Looking ahead, 2026 marks Euromines’ 30th anniversary — a milestone year that will bring new initiatives, celebrations, and updates.

Joint Position Paper – Industry Feedback – ETS Fallback Benchmarks

ETS Fallback Benchmarks – immediate concerns to be taken into account in the review of the ETS benchmarks for 2026-2030

The undersigned associations – representing 14 major industries covered by the heat and fuel fallback benchmarks ranging from metals to chemicals, from ceramics to food-processing – would like to address concerns regarding the foreseen review of the heat and fuel benchmarks for 2026-2030. As these fallback benchmarks were developed for cases where no product benchmark could be developed due to the small number of installations or high heterogeneity of products in the same code, the free allocation of a large number of installations depends on them – and thus their carbon leakage exposure.

A reduction of the heat and fuel fallback benchmarks of 50% – the maximum rate – will pose severe challenges to our sectors. Including the use of biomass, cogeneration, and installations importing measurable heat from exothermal‑process heat exporters, as a reference for the improvement of the benchmarks leads to a proposed benchmark reduction rate that does not reflect the actual technical potential and availability of the alternative fuels or heat sources for the affected installations. As biomass is a structurally limited and unevenly accessible resource, its inclusion as a benchmark reference conflicts with the ETS principles of technological neutrality and equal treatment, as it assumes universal availability that cannot be met across installations. Meanwhile, despite its efficiency benefits and growth potential in industry, new cogeneration uptake has been limited among EU ETS installations, and the operation of existing installations has fluctuated due to market developments and regulatory burden.

Limited grid capacity and insufficient renewable heat infrastructure mean that accelerated benchmark reductions risk carbon leakage rather than decarbonization. Consequently, there will be an increased risk of closures and facility relocation due to reduced carbon leakage protection, as the European Commission seeks to close the gap of the EU’s global competitive disadvantage. As the risk of carbon leakage increases, a balanced pace and predictable pathway is needed to give industry the means and time to develop and implement low-carbon and climate-neutral technologies and switch to alternative fuels.

A realistic assessment of the technical limitations

Biomass is not uniformly available within the EU and across the different sectors. Its availability depends on several factors, including national/regional population densities and the relative sizes of agriculture, forestry, marine, and waste-based sectors. Moreover, regional legislation and air quality considerations prevent industrial combustion of solid biomass in some European regions, while access to biomethane is limited and not yet cost-competitive.

Even if biomass was readily available, there are limitations on the extent to which it can be used to significantly reduce direct GHG emissions in different industrial processes. The processes in numerous installations covered under fallback benchmarks require continuous high temperature – in some instances so high that these cannot run solely on biomass given availability, technical and quality constraints; combustion of solid biomass– if adequate quantities can be secured – cannot produce high temperature gases (i.e. above 1100C) and can also contaminate products, largely limiting the use of biomass and therefore its usefulness as a reference fuel. Consequently, biomass can support but not deliver industrial decarbonisation on its own under the EU ETS.

Representativeness of biomass, cogeneration and measurable heat imports

Sustainable bioenergy feedstocks are scarce, and the EU is already an overall net importer of biomass. Given the range of competing demands and the sheer quantities required, it is clear that there is insufficient availability of sustainable, competitively priced biomass feedstock for it to be a viable option for all installations allocated under the fallback approach.

In fact, the uptake of biomass in the recent years has been minimal. The overall EU share increased by only +3.4 percentage points (from 7.4% to 10.8%) between 2013 and 2023 (Source: IEA – reference year: 2024).

Cogeneration is a mature and efficient technology, but its deployment at EU level has remained broadly stable over the past decade while CHP electricity as a share of total electricity has been declining, reflecting policy, market and site-specific constraints rather than a lack of technical improvement, with recent investments primarily concentrated in power-oriented applications such as district heating rather than industrial process heat. (Source: COGEN Europe).

Electrifying the heat generation is still not cost competitive enough, high temperature applications cannot yet be covered by electrical heat generation units and the extension of green electricity generation capacities as well as the necessary grid infrastructure is not sufficient all across Europe.

Generalizing the benchmark update based on the number of installations that run on biomass (or cogeneration or installations importing measurable heat from exothermal‑process heat exporters) is not reflective of the deployable technologies, their availability to the processes, and the overall energy consumption of sites covered by fallback benchmarks. The sites considered as benchmark-setters are likely statistical outliers: smaller consumers, and not representative of the availability and technical viability or energy demand of the overall sectors under these fallback benchmarks.

Avoid unwanted side-effects

The stricter benchmarks bear the risk of being counterincentives for biomass’ (or cogeneration’s) wider use: despite the higher costs and lower energy efficiency than the fossil fuel it replaces, due to the new biomass sustainability criteria adopted under the RED III Directive and high temperature processes, the replacement with biomass increases the installation’s activity level without the benefit of an increase in free allowance or energy consumption reduction. On the contrary, the installation may be penalized due to its deterioration of the energy efficiency indicators. Stricter benchmarks may incentivise biomass use in principle, but benchmark design and industrial realities mean biomass is only available to some installations in specific sectors and/or regions.

A drastic reduction of the heat benchmark will also drastically lower the incentive for installations to recover and export excess heat from their processes to district heating for the benefit of surrounding communities, given that allocation for such heat export is based on the heat benchmark. This would be contrary to the EU’s circularity and energy efficiency goals.

We should be able to achieve a smooth transition supporting technology maturation for our production steps until these are broadly available, and to be aligned with the objective to maintain a competitive European industrial base to secure economic autonomy and resilience while pursuing the EU climate neutrality target. Currently we face a lack of transparency on the underlying data and assumptions as well as the treatment of statistical outliers. It reduces the regulatory certainty for our industries.

The calculation of the fallback benchmark reduction rate must be reflective of the actual availability and technical viability of alternative energy sources in the EU. To that end we call for a suspension of the ETS benchmarks update until the current approach is replaced by a methodology that is more reflective of the industry’s reality.

Download the joint position paper below.

PRESS RELEASE: Europe launches RESourceEU: A turning point for raw materials security

Brussels, 03 December 2025 – The RESourceEU announcement is a major step in the right direction for fostering resilient and responsible raw material value chains for Europe. While awaiting the fine print and concrete actions, Euromines lauds the Commission’s prioritisation of:

Access to finance with a €3bn facility to support Strategic Projects.

Permitting by introducing a CRM Permitting Act to streamline procedures and provide legal certainty.

Market infrastructure and liquidity: Creating mechanisms for transparent pricing and liquidity support.

If these measures arrive as planned and interact in lockstep, Europe will take a major step towards resilient value chains.

Yet, Europe is not alone, and competitors will not leave the stage: RESourceEU must also align with Standards Based Market concepts under the G7 framework and expand its focus from low-volume high strategic value raw materials to bulk commodities. The suite of solutions necessary is not complete without the means to de-risk early-stage investments, foster exploration and provide guarantee schemes for large scale projects.

Furthermore, for it to succeed, it must be underpinned with substantive guidance on value chain integration and cooperation possibilities. It should focus on the economy that we would like to develop by clustering producers and off takers and incentivising “made in Europe”. Value chain integration is key, by clustering extraction, processing, and manufacturing to anchor strategic industries in Europe.

“Europe cannot afford to treat raw materials as an afterthought,” said Rolf Kuby, Director General of Euromines. “RESourceEU must turn ambition into action, financing, infrastructure, and permitting reforms are essential to secure Europe’s industrial future.”

Media contact: Anna Zanetti (zanetti@euromines.be)

Download the press release below.

Europe’s Lithium Paradox premiering in Brussels

Europe's Lithium Paradox - Documentary Screening and Panel

On 17 November, Europe’s Lithium Paradox held its final avant-première at Cinema Aventure (Brussels) — A full house!

On 17 November, “Europe’s Lithium Paradox” had its final avant-première event in Cinema Aventure (Brussels) – a full house! – followed by the official release of the documentary film to a global audience (watch at the link below). An award-winning documentary that highlights the tension at the heart of Europe’s energy transition: we must move quickly to address the climate crisis, but establishing a responsible and resilient lithium supply chain takes time.

This film explores lithium’s crucial role in Europe’s mission to become the world’s first climate neutral continent, while recognising the importance of local environmental & cultural preservation. The documentary unravels the intricate challenges and opportunities surrounding lithium mining, refining and recycling. And it examines the role of demand-side management reducing the need for primary lithium extraction. The film intends to help building bridges between European civil society and the metals production industry.

The documentary highlights the tension at the heart of Europe’s energy transition: we must move quickly to address the climate crisis, but establishing a responsible and resilient lithium supply chain takes time.

The event opened with a fireside chat featuring the film’s presenter, Peter Tom Jones (SIM2 KU Leuven), interviewed by moderator Filip De Rycke. Jones explains that Europe holds 27 significant lithium deposits across countries including Portugal, Spain, France, Finland, Germany, and the Czech Republic, with 7 designated as strategic under the Critical Raw Materials Act. Despite this, the continent lacks large-scale lithium refining facilities, leaving raw concentrates dependent on China and preventing Europe from controlling key parts of the battery supply chain.

Key Challenges:

Investment Flight: Companies (like Solvay) are relocating to the US due to faster permits and better financial support, undermining Europe’s competitiveness.

Project Failures and Geopolitics: The halt of Serbia’s Jadar Project threatens European energy independence, and reflects political resistance, disinformation, and hybrid warfare risks (Russia) .

Policy Execution Gaps: The Critical Raw Materials Act (March 2024) has failed to stop project closures or investment flight; Europe’s permitting and incentives lag behind global competitors.

Cultural Barriers: Excessive debate and slow implementation (“death by talking”) hinder progress in building the full lithium supply chain.

Urgent Needs:

Accelerate (responsibly though) mining, refining, and project approvals to secure domestic lithium for batteries, EVs, and energy transition goals.

Develop large-scale European refining capacity to reduce dependency on China.

Shift the political and cultural approach from debate to decisive action.

Strategic Implication: Without rapid, coordinated action, Europe risks losing industrial jobs, strategic autonomy, and leadership in the global green economy.

This opening gambit formed a conducive environment for a very lively panel debate after the film screening.

On the panel were Alicia Polo y La Borda (The Copper Mark), Emily Ritchey (T&E), Rolf Kuby (Euromines), and EXCEED Strategic Manager (documentary co-writer and presenter) Peter Tom Jones (SIM2 KU Leuven).

The discussion underlined several critical insights:

Trust in institutions is essential: countries like Finland or Sweden show how strong governance builds acceptance, whereas the controversy around Serbia’s Jadar project shows the risks when trust is weak.

We need to integrate social scientists (or “social geologists”), engage transparently with environmental activists, and involve local communities meaningfully. The Inuit in Quebec, for example, not only benefit economically but play a role in governing mining projects.

To strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy, we must focus on green public procurement, prioritize local and recycled content, and keep more value within Europe. Specifically, export restrictions on black mass could help prevent fragmented supply chains and retain critical materials on the continent. The message: Make in Europe, buy in Europe.

There’s also a geopolitical dimension: shrinking dependence on external actors (especially in the current climate of shifting relationships) requires policy, industrial strategy, and social legitimacy to go hand in hand.

Ultimately, the panel reinforced what the documentary calls “Europe’s lithium paradox”: real change demands both urgency and patience, and solving it requires technological ambition plus trust, inclusion, and coherent policy.

The following day, the film received its 3rd award – Documentary Impact Award – by 14th TVE Global Sustainability Film Awards 2025 (see below info about the other 2 awards and 3 nominations). Watch the full film below.

Key information:
Film crew: Director: Stijn van Baarle (STORYRUNNER), Presenter: Peter Tom Jones (SIM2 KU Leuven), Cameramen: Michael Van de Velde & Jochen Maes; Sound technicians: Casimir De Kimpe, Jeroen De Vriese, Editing: Jasper Vander Elst.
Funding: Horizon Europe (LITHOS/EXCEED), SIM² KU Leuven & KU Leuven crowdfunding.

AWARDS/SELECTIONS
🏆 Best Environment and Climate Film at the Berlin Kiez Film Festival
🏆 Honourable Mention Award at MY NAME IS CLIMATE Film Festival
🏅Official selection as Finalist by British Columbia Environmental Film Festival Society

RESourceEU: Turning Europe’s Raw Materials Ambition into Action

Europe finds itself at a turning point. As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared at the 2025 Berlin Global Dialogue, the tightening of export controls by China on rare earths and battery materials presents a “structural challenge” to supply chains and industrial competitiveness.

The launch of RESourceEU offers an opportunity, but only if it does more than serve as another implementation vehicle for the CRMA. Europe must shift from procedural reform to industrial strategy. To this end, we offer a blueprint for how RESourceEU must deliver:

Review and reform the acquis

Europe must address bottlenecks in permitting, energy pricing, access to finance and state-aid frameworks, turning these from constraints into enablers of investment. As President von der Leyen remarked: “Our response must match the scale of the risks we face … Europe cannot do things the same way any more.”

Move beyond the REPowerEU template

While the REPowerEU experience offers lessons, raw-materials markets are fundamentally different from energy markets. RESourceEU must recognise the global, fungible and interconnected nature of raw-material supply chains rather than adopting cookie-cutter solutions like central procurement or stockpiles alone.

Connect supply, demand and value

Competitiveness is not a policy, but the result of integrated policy. Europe needs:

Accelerated development of strategic extraction and processing facilities (low-energy cost, low-friction permitting).
Standards-based markets supported by targeted state aid or price-support mechanisms, tailored to each material’s market structure.
Supply-chain clustering, domestic value capture and industrial ecosystems tied to clean-tech and defence deployment.

Recognise value – not just cost

For too long, Europe has externalised the costs of raw-material extraction while retaining only the downstream value. That model is no longer fit for purpose. The time has come to invest in value creation, not simply cost minimisation.

In her speech, President von der Leyen provided the political backing: “The aim is to secure access to alternative sources of critical raw materials in the short, medium and long term for our European industry … We will boost investment in strategic projects for the production and processing of critical raw materials here in the European Union.”

For RESourceEU to succeed, we must start with a clear diagnosis and root-and-branch policy reform before layering instruments. Let’s fix the foundations: streamline permitting, reduce energy cost burdens, unlock finance and markets, so that Europe’s raw-materials industry can truly deliver on its promise.

Euromines publishes Omnibus on Enabling Effective Procedures – simplifying Environmental Legislation

Euromines releases its Omnibus on Enabling Effective Procedures, a comprehensive position paper calling for faster, simpler, and more predictable environmental permitting in the EU.

The document highlights the urgent need to streamline overlapping legislation and reduce administrative burdens that delay vital mining and raw materials projects essential for Europe’s clean and resilient future.

Key Points:

Calls for simplified and outcome-oriented permitting across Member States.
Proposes balanced implementation between environmental protection and industrial competitiveness.
Recommends concrete measures to unblock Europe’s raw material potential, including:
- Streamlining the Water Framework Directive and related rules.
- Clarifying processes under Natura 2000 and the Nature Restoration Regulation.
- Reconsidering the scope of the Industrial Emissions Directive.
- Avoiding administrative overlap through the Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive.
Advocates for “Strategic Zones” or “Go-To Zones” to fast-track sustainable mining investments.

The Omnibus underscores that Europe’s green transition depends on effective, efficient permitting that builds trust, coherence, and competitiveness, without compromising high environmental standards.

Read our position paper below.

PRESS RELEASE: European extractive industries’ social partners unveil new study on the importance of social dialogue

New EU-funded project shows that strong collaboration between workers and employers drives sustainability, better working conditions, and industrial resilience across Europe

Brussels, 15 October 2025 – Euromines and industriAll Europe have teamed up for the EU-funded project SODISEES, exploring how effective social dialogue can accelerate social sustainability in Europe’s extractive industries.

The report, “Social Dialogue for Sustainable Extractives Industries in Europe” is being launched today at the high-level conference, gathering trade unions, employers’ organisations, and policymakers. Its central message: by working together, workers, employers, and public authorities can build stronger industries and secure good, sustainable industrial jobs for the future.

The report outlines concrete measures to strengthen social dialogue and accelerate sustainable practices in Europe’s extractive industries.

Key Findings:

Social dialogue is a strategic asset for just and sustainable transitions. Across company, national, sectoral, and EU levels, robust social dialogue helps improve working conditions, support training and re-training, and manage the just transition. All key to meeting the sector’s sustainability challenges;
The main ingredients determining success are: a supportive state framework that encourages social dialogue and collective bargaining, representative participation, and a strong willingness from both sides to negotiate. All prerequisites identified for durable, high-quality social dialogue;
Practical examples show impact in health and safety at work, inclusion, and skills. Cases include NEPSI’s multisectoral agreement on crystalline silica, Spain’s Mining Safety Commission, and transnational practice sharing via European Works Councils, which demonstrate how social dialogue improves Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), encourages good practices, and strengthens capacity.
Governance innovations accelerate acceptance and performance. Participatory mechanisms (e.g., France’s public debate process/CNDP) and regional strategies (e.g., Andalusia’s SSMA 2030 with social-partner leadership), which include trade unions and employers’ organisations, help build trust, enable earlier information-sharing, and integrate social aims with environmental goals.
Skills and transition readiness improvement: joint training plans and co-designed upskilling pathways help workers adapt to digitalisation, automation, and low-carbon processes, supporting competitiveness and retention.

The SODISEES project combines desk research, interviews, a partner survey, and workshops in Seville, Stockholm, and Katowice to map challenges and good practices across six themes: social dialogue; quality jobs; inclusion and diversity; innovation; training and skills; and green transition.

“This project sends a clear message: Europe’s industrial future must be built with workers, not around them. The extractive industries are vital to our strategic autonomy and industrial resilience—but they will only be sustainable if they are also socially just. Social dialogue is not a procedural add-on; it is the democratic infrastructure that ensures industrial policy delivers for people, regions, and communities. The examples documented in this report prove that when workers have a seat at the table, solutions are smarter, fairer, and more durable. If Europe wants to secure its raw materials and maintain its license to operate, it must invest in strong social partnerships and inclusive governance. There is no responsible industrial strategy without social dialogue.” – Judith Kirton Darling, General Secretary, industriAll Europe

“Strong social dialogue is key for a resilient and competitive mining industry in Europe. The SODISEES project and its latest report show how collaboration between employers and workers can build trust, enhance skills, and promote sustainable, long-term growth for both the industry and the communities it serves” – Rolf Kuby, Director General, Euromines

Policy context

The project operates within the EU’s sectoral social dialogue architecture and addresses the needed social pillar on which Europe’s extractive industries should be built, including the need to align with evolving EU policy, critical raw materials needs, and just-transition objectives. Sector-level dialogue’s priorities identified in the report include quality of work, health & safety at work, and skills for the twin transition.

Background

Minerals are essential for Europe’s green and digital transitions, yet operations face complex environmental and social challenges, from decarbonisation and water use to biodiversity, community acceptance, and job quality. The report concludes that true sustainability cannot be achieved without addressing social challenges through genuine social dialogue. When social dialogue is meaningful e, employers and workers co-create solutions that improve working conditions, strengthen social outcomes, and build long-term resilience and competitiveness.

More information: Full report and media kit: LINK

About industriAll Europe

IndustriAll European Trade Union is a federation of independent and democratic trade unions representing manual and non-manual workers in the metal, chemical, energy, mining, textile, clothing and footwear sectors and related industries and activities. We speak for 7 million working men and women united within 200 national trade union affiliates in 39 European countries. https://news.industriall-europe.eu

Media contact: Danai Dimitrakopoulos (Danai.Dimitrakopoulos@industriall-europe.eu)

About Euromines

Euromines, the European Association of Mining, Metal Ores & Industrial Minerals, is the voice of the European metals and minerals mining industry. Our primary goal is to promote responsible industry practices and ensure that mining receives appropriate consideration in EU policymaking. As a collaborative network, Euromines brings together the Secretariat and Members to assess the impact of European and international policies on the industry, shaping unified positions and actions. Representing both large and small companies, as well as their subsidiaries across Europe and beyond, Euromines advocates for a sustainable and competitive mining sector. More information on www.euromines.org

Media contact: Anna Zanetti (zanetti@euromines.be)

PRESS RELEASE: Euromines welcomes Mine Master and Zinnwald Lithium as its newest members

Brussels, 08 October 2025 – Euromines is pleased to announce the addition of Mine Master and Zinnwald Lithium as its newest company members, strengthening the association’s representation of Europe’s mining and minerals industry.

Their entry follows Euromines’ admission process, which ensures that new members demonstrate a strong commitment to responsible mining practices and to advancing the European raw materials sector in line with sustainability, innovation, and competitiveness. Both companies were formally endorsed by Euromines’ Board.

Mine Master, based in Poland, is a leading designer and manufacturer of underground mining equipment, with over 50 years of expertise supporting safe and efficient mineral production across Europe and globally. The company combines engineering excellence with a focus on safety, reliability, and sustainable development in mining operations.

Zinnwald Lithium, headquartered in the United Kingdom, is developing one of Europe’s most advanced lithium projects on the German Czech border. As Europe works to secure strategic raw materials for the green transition, Zinnwald Lithium’s project will play an essential role in strengthening the European battery value chain and supporting climate-neutral technologies.

With the addition of Mine Master and Zinnwald Lithium, Euromines reinforces its role as the voice of a diverse and innovative European mining industry. Their inclusion underscores the growing recognition of mining’s central role in delivering the raw materials needed for Europe’s strategic autonomy, energy transition, and sustainable future.

“We are delighted to welcome Mine Master and Zinnwald Lithium into the Euromines family. Their expertise and forward-looking strategies will be invaluable as we continue to promote responsible mining in Europe, enhance competitiveness, and secure the raw materials critical to Europe’s economy and the Green Deal. We look forward to their active engagement in our work and collective efforts to advance Europe’s sustainable raw materials sector.” — Rolf Kuby, Director-General, Euromines

“I am excited for us to join forces with Euromines and contribute our more than 50 years of expertise to shaping the future of Europe’s mining sector. Mining is not only about resources — it is about innovation, sustainability, and Europe’s ability to lead in the global transition. By working together, we can ensure the sector plays its vital role in building a stronger and more sustainable future for all.” — Jerzy Nadolny, CEO, Mine Master

“Joining Euromines reflects our commitment to building a responsible and sustainable lithium project at the heart of Europe. As the demand for critical minerals grows, collaboration between industry and policymakers is essential to ensure secure and ethical supply chains. We are proud to add our voice to this dialogue and to contribute to Europe’s clean energy future.” — Cherif Rifaat, Chief Financial Officer, Zinnwald Lithium

Media contact: Anna Zanetti (zanetti@euromines.be)

Download the press release below.

Euromines Safety Awards 2025: Celebrating Excellence in Mining Safety

The Euromines Safety Awards 2025, held on 8 October in Brussels, brought together members and stakeholders from across the mining industry to celebrate excellence in safety. Among the distinguished guests was keynote speaker and jury member Charlotte Grevfors Ernoult, Head of Unit at the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission. In an industry where safety is paramount, this year’s winners were recognised for their outstanding commitment to advancing protection and prevention. The event highlighted not only best practices but also the innovation shaping the future of safe and responsible mining in Europe.

Gold Winner: Atalaya Riotinto

Atalaya Riotinto’s “Field Leadership Activities” project promotes a proactive safety culture by placing workers at the heart of prevention efforts. Through multidisciplinary teams, the initiative conducts audits, safety observations, “Stop and Talk” sessions, and inspections, fostering cross-departmental learning and direct management engagement. Tracked via a digital platform, the project has led to fewer accidents, stronger risk awareness, and lasting cultural change, all with minimal investment and maximum impact.

Silver Winner: Boliden Mineral AB

Boliden Mineral AB’s “Blast Safe” project is a cutting-edge system that ensures all personnel are safely evacuated before blasting. By integrating real-time access control with location verification via access cards or smartphones, the system confirms that everyone is either outside the blast zone or in a certified shelter before authorizing detonation. Supported by routine checks and performance reviews, Blast Safe significantly improves safety, accountability, and confidence in one of mining’s highest-risk operations.

Bronze Winner: LKAB Mekaniska AB

LKAB Mekaniska AB’s “Safety Lock for Silo Renovation” project eliminates the need for workers to enter hazardous silos during maintenance. Using drones, VR simulations, and a remotely installed safety lock system, the solution achieved zero man-hours inside the silo, drastically reducing risk while maintaining operations. The project showcases how digital tools and cross-functional innovation can significantly enhance safety and efficiency in industrial maintenance.

Looking to the Future of Mining Safety

The Euromines Safety Awards 2025 celebrates groundbreaking innovations that raise the bar for safety in the mining industry. Each winning project demonstrates that, even in a industry with high safety standards, there is always potential to go further. These forward-thinking initiatives not only enhance day-to-day operations but also set a strong foundation for a safer, more efficient future in mining.