The EU has put together a list of 47 mineral projects it wants to fast track for permitting in the next 15 months. 

“We do not want to replace our dependence on fossil fuels with dependence on raw materials,” Vice-president responsible for industrial strategy Stéphane Séjourné told reporters in Brussels today. “Chinese lithium will not be tomorrow’s Russian gas.”

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/03/25/chinese-lithium-must-not-become-the-new-russian-gas-says-eu-industry-chief

Easier said than done. In 2023, I visited the site in rural northern Portugal where the EU wanted to open its largest lithium project. It's still not being mined. 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/portugal-lithium-climate_n_664f8595e4b058247fa206f3

Reporter and writer. I cover energy, climate change and geopolitics. Contact me via my website www.alexanderckaufman.com and subscribe to kaufman.substack.com.

interesting take from the eu, but it’s gonna be tricky to balance the need for minerals with environmental concerns. i remember reading about that portugal site, and it’s still in limbo. hope they can figure it out without creating new dependencies. fingers crossed for some innovation in sustainable mining practices!