The French-speaking liberal party MR wants to relaunch mining in Belgium. They advocate rebuilding a full value chain, from mine to recycling. After all, the energy transition is driving up demand for metals, and Europe needs to reduce its dependence on China in particular, according to the party’s study center.
“If we have an idea of what raw materials are present, we can see if it is worth spending money on them,” says geologist Stijn Dewaele, professor of mineral resources at Ugent, on the news site vrt.news. “So right now, that basic knowledge is too limited.”
Kelmis and the Hainaut in view
The MR wants to kick off with a geological prospecting campaign “with adequate public funding.” A first exploitation phase could follow pilot projects, for example, for lead, zinc, and germanium in Kelmis in the province of Liège or phosphates in Hainaut, according to the Centre Jean Gol study.
“Without metals or minerals, no batteries, wind turbines, massive building renovation of high-performance electrical infrastructure,” warns the MR. “Reopening mines today is not a return to the 19th century, but preparing the future with 21st-century standards: eco-design, automation, recycling, and respect for the environment.”
“Change in law is imminent.”
According to geologist Stijn Dewaele, a possible restart of mining in Wallonia is interesting because there has been no research on raw materials in Belgium for more than 100 years. “There is not even basic knowledge about what is in our soil,” Dewaele said on vrt.news.
In the past, Wallonia primarily mined coal, as well as zinc, lead, and gold, among other metals. However, since mining stopped in Wallonia at the end of the 19th century because it was no longer economically viable, there have also been no significant ground surveys.
According to the liberals, a change in the law is also imminent. They point to the mining code adopted by the previous Walloon government (PS-MR-Ecolo).
The legislation should not thwart the launch of mining projects “respecting strict environmental and social requirements,” they argue. Their coalition partner, Les Engagés, also launched a call last month to review the potential of mining, particularly for white or green hydrogen.
Germanium
The European Union set concrete targets on critical raw materials last year. By 2030, at least 10% of the strategic raw materials used in the EU must be mined domestically. 40% will have to be processed by the EU itself, 25 25% should be recyclable.
In March, the European Commission released a list of 47 “strategic projects” aimed at reducing dependence on rare raw materials from abroad. The list also includes two Belgian projects, each from Umicore’s Electro-Optic Materials business unit in Olen. They deal in germanium, a substance used for fiber optic cables and infrared technology.
EVs are dependent on raw materials
The energy transition is creating a significant demand for raw materials to support modern technologies, including laptops, cell phones, drones, wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, and electric motors.
Studies by the European Commission’s research center also indicate that EVs will require a significant amount of raw materials in the future. Indeed, wind turbines and solar panels are already well-established, but electric mobility is still in its early stages of development.
For example, lithium, graphite, cobalt, and nickel are indispensable for batteries. And then for the motor, more unknown but “rare earth” metals are needed, such as dysprosium, neodymium, praseodymium, and terbium.
Mining in general is quite polluting, both environmentally and socially. The extent of pollution depends on the type of mining, the raw material being extracted, and the method used.
