The European Fee closed the second utility spherical for strategic challenge standing beneath the Crucial Uncooked Supplies Act on 15 January 2026, with choices anticipated within the second quarter of 2026 (Q2 2026). The method follows the approval of 47 mineral tasks inside the EU in March 2025 and an additional 13 non-EU tasks in June, together with 4 in Africa: in Malawi, Madagascar, South Africa and Zambia.
Seven months after these first non-EU designations, Africa has emerged as a key testing floor for Europe’s effort to safe vital minerals and scale back its dependence on China. Initiatives vary from uncommon earths, graphite and cobalt developments to processing investments, highlighting the EU’s rising give attention to value-added provide chains past extraction.
But the continent’s push to maneuver downstream has lengthy been constrained by weak infrastructure, vitality shortages, water shortage and political threat. With 60 strategic-labelled tasks now in place worldwide, consideration is shifting to what the strategic designation has really delivered – and whether or not Europe’s partnerships can translate coverage ambition into industrial actuality.
The Zandkopsdrift uncommon earths challenge, developed by Frontier Uncommon Earths, is situated in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province and is predicted to provide round 17,000 tonnes each year (tpa) of separated uncommon earth oxides, together with 4,000tpa of magnet uncommon earths, along with 100,000tpa of battery-grade manganese sulphate by 2030. Whereas typically described as a mine, the challenge is primarily a processing operation: solely 5% of capital prices are for mining, with 95% allotted to the processing plant, successfully a chemical refinery, as James Kenny, CEO and co-founder of Frontier Uncommon Earths, underlined to Mining Expertise.
The challenge is absolutely permitted, with mining, environmental and entry rights secured, and its social and labour plan has been accredited by each native and nationwide authorities. Work started in 2007, and after greater than 15 years of growth, the challenge represents a $700m (€590.16m) funding in large-scale chemical processing. Throughout development, it’s anticipated to make use of round 1,000 folks, rising to 750 direct jobs in manufacturing, with an additional 1,500 oblique roles supported by means of native providers.
“Given the standard challenges confronted by firms like ours – specifically junior mining firms – in creating a challenge of this scale and complexity, securing the assist of sovereign and supranational companions is crucial, because it brings higher entry to trade gamers, monetary establishments, financing our bodies and downstream companions,” says Kenny.
“We due to this fact seen this as a really constructive step by the EU and determined to take part, realizing that success and recognition would replicate positively on each our firm and our challenge.”
The Luxembourg-registered firm spent 4 to 6 months making ready its utility, which Kenny described as “very thorough and complete”. For uncommon earths, the corporate needed to display that the challenge might make a significant contribution to European industrial demand by 2030, quantifying projected output, EU demand and the quantity of provide it might realistically present to Europe.
Whereas it’s nonetheless too early to completely assess the affect of the designation of the challenge after simply six months, Kenny says some advantages are already rising.
“One of many marketed benefits of being a ‘strategic challenge’ for the EU is actually fast-tracking your allowing,” he explains. “That designation means it may be given some precedence.”
The EU’s designation additionally offers certification, which in principle makes it simpler for industrial producers equivalent to Mercedes-Benz, Siemens or Stellantis to establish vetted suppliers. Frontier might then enter into industrial agreements instantly with these companions, moderately than with the EU itself.
Kenny describes the method as a type of matchmaking, an introductory service that “has been very helpful and precious thus far”. The corporate has since been invited to closed-door conferences with trade and monetary companions, the place the EU has endorsed the challenge and facilitated introductions.
Whereas outcomes stay unsure, Frontier expects the method to result in offtake agreements, joint growth partnerships and financing for development.
In Zambia, Kobaloni Power is creating what it describes as Africa’s first cobalt sulphate refinery, designed to provide traceable, battery-grade cobalt for electrical automobiles. The challenge, situated close to the Lobito Hall, is designed to provide 6,000tpa of cobalt sulphate (metallic contained), and the corporate has accomplished a Class 3 feasibility examine.
“We’re at present busy elevating capital for the challenge and are focusing on a closing funding resolution in Q2 2026. Constructing the plant would then take about 14 months – however we’ve got to lift the capital first, and that’s what is holding us again proper now,” Johnny Velloza, CEO of Kobaloni, explains to Mining Expertise.
If financing is secured on schedule, manufacturing might start within the second half of 2027, with the challenge anticipated to create 165 direct jobs at full capability.
“What these tasks do for us, notably that one, is profit us in so some ways by means of job creation, to begin with,” Chipokota Mwanawasa, coverage advisor to Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and deputy head of the Presidential Supply Unit, tells Mining Expertise.
In line with Mwanawasa, the challenge’s affect extends past mining into downstream processing. The deliberate facility can be the primary stand-alone cobalt refinery in Africa, in accordance with Kobaloni Power, shifting a part of the worth chain away from exporting uncooked focus. In a area with greater than a century of mining historical past, it factors to the potential for the Copperbelt to assist longer-term industrial exercise by means of processing infrastructure and associated provide chains, moderately than extraction alone.
Mwanawasa provides that the challenge advantages from improved entry to downstream markets, supported by the EU’s partnerships within the area.
“The truth that the EU is partnering with Zambia and different international locations by means of the Lobito Hall additionally helps assure a type of market relationship. It’s a strategic partnership,” she says.
Regardless of current progress, Europe continues to be broadly seen as transferring too slowly to scale back its dependence on a single provider, notably in contrast with faster-acting governments such because the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, and the Gulf states, together with Saudi Arabia. Reliance on China for strategic supplies stays substantial, and plenty of trade voices argue that the EU’s efforts nonetheless fall brief of what’s wanted to handle the issue.
“Dependence is a systemic subject which requires systemic options; deciding on strategic tasks can solely be a primary step,” says Ludivine Wouters, managing companion at European funding advisory agency Latitude 5. “The laborious work is financing, structuring and creating these tasks, and much more importantly making a marketplace for their manufacturing.
“In a context the place China absolutely leverages its vertically built-in and subsidised mannequin to cost rising opponents out of the market, Gulf gamers wield important funding capability and African companions search for industrialisation and growth alternatives. Europeans might want to rethink how they procure and use minerals to greatest foster the emergence of latest manufacturing,” she explains to Mining Expertise.
The problem is compounded by the construction of the mining trade itself. Globally, fewer than 1% of exploration tasks ever develop into working mines, with some estimates nearer to 0.1%, or one in 1,000 prospects. On the earliest stage, the percentages fall to at least one in 5,000, and tasks that succeed sometimes take 15–20 years to maneuver from discovery to first manufacturing.
Securing financing stays the important thing hurdle. Whereas the EU is predicted to facilitate entry to capital for designated tasks, this isn’t the identical as offering financing.
“That’s in all probability its greatest problem. The primary subject in fixing the EU’s vital uncooked supplies provide challenges, and the primary approach to repair it, is capital,” Kenny factors out.
“Deploy capital, take capital threat and transfer quick. Coverage is nice, however you’ll not get it executed with out capital – and in the intervening time, capital is lacking.”
In December, the European Fee introduced as much as €3bn in funding for 2026, alongside regulatory fast-tracking for strategic tasks, beneath its ReSourceEU Motion Plan. But the dimensions of the problem stays daunting: the mining sector would require $500bn–600bn in new capital globally by 2040 to fulfill demand beneath present coverage situations, in accordance with the Worldwide Power Company’s World Crucial Minerals Outlook 2025, which additionally discovered that funding progress slowed to five% in 2024, down from 14% in 2023.
“EU-backed minerals tasks in Africa transfer from coverage to proof” was initially created and printed by Mining Expertise, a GlobalData owned model.
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