Value Addition in the Context of Mineral Processing

Value Addition in the Context of Mineral Processing E-PAPER Study Value Addition in the Context of Mineral Processing BY SOPHIA PICKLES A publication commissioned by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, November 2023 Value Addition in the Context of Mineral Processing By Sophia Pickles Contents List of abbreviations 3 Introduction 5 Mineral processing and economic value addition 11 1. [...] The EC's proposed text of the European Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) asserts that this situation «exposes the EU to significant supply risks» and proposes that the Union invest in strategic projects inside and outside of the Union that build its capacity to access processed minerals.[8] In addition, the European Parliament's September 2023 proposed text of the CRMA includes a target for proces. [...] The proposed text of the CRMA aims to increase mineral processing within the Union, and in September 2023 the European Parliament voted in favour of including a target for processing 50 per cent of the EU's annual consumption of CRMs domestically.[93] Strategic Partnerships[94] are also identified as a tool with which the EU could increase its mineral processing capacity by up to 20 per cent.[95]. [...] These included that although SQM had provided information to the communities on the environmental monitoring it carried out, there was still no response to communities by the company on the impacts of the company's mining opera- tions on water and air.[158] As noted in the preceding paragraph, the impact of lithium mining and extraction on water resources in Chile has been severe and significant. [...] It also recorded that most mining companies in Namibia were in foreign ownership, that minerals were processed in Namibia and exported for manufacture and use elsewhere, and that the activities of the sector had led to environmental degradation; the emis- sions of chemicals leading to contamination of land; noise pollution and underground vibrations; the exploitation of workers; and exposure to di.