The European Commission adopted on March 25 a list of 47 Strategic Projects under the Critical Raw Material Act (CRMA), with an expected overall capital investment of EUR 22.5 billion, among which three projects worth EUR 615 million are to be developed in Romania by Euro Sun Mining (Canada), Salrom (Romania, state-owned), and Verde Magnesium (backed by US private equity investor Amerocap ), to boost domestic strategic raw material capacities.
The projects will get access to financing and as well as permits under an accelerated schedule.
The permitting process for the projects will not exceed 27 months for extraction and 15 months for other projects.
Strategic Projects under the EU CRMA gain access to guidance and potential funding from private and public sources, including the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and private financial institutions, and enable regional and national authorities to make use of funding from the European Development Fund and Cohesion Fund, according to Euro Manganese – one of the beneficiaries.
The 47 projects cover one or more segments of the raw materials value chain, with 25 projects encompassing extraction activities, 24 processing, 10 recycling, and 2 raw material substitution.
All three projects in Romania envisage the extraction of graphite, copper, and magnesium, respectively.
One project is located in Bihor County and concerns the exploitation of magnesium; another is in Hunedoara County for copper, and the third is in Gorj County, where graphite will be extracted.
Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu, speaking in a press conference with minister of economy Bogdan Ivan, announced that the three strategic projects will get financing in the amount of EUR 615 million, according to Digi24.
"We had seven projects submitted, of which these three were selected. They will automatically lead to thousands of jobs, but also to a horizontal development of the entire industry," the prime minister said.
The largest of all three projects, for copper extraction, is developed by Canada-based Euro Sun Mining. The Rovina project is located in Hunedoara County, requires EUR 300 million of investments, and envisages the extraction and refining of copper and gold.
Currently, Romania depends on copper imports from countries outside the European Union, but "with this project, which will produce 20,000 tons of copper concentrate annually, we will ensure both the needs of the Romanian economy in all aspects of the manufacturing industry, as well as a significant part of the European economy," minister Ivan said.
Another project, encompassing EUR 200 million of investments, will be developed by the state-controlled company Salrom and will yield an annual graphite production of 15,000 tonnes.
The third project (EUR 115 million) targets the production of magnesium and will be developed by Verde Magnesium.
Verde Magnesium, a company backed by the American investment company Amerocap, seeks to invest USD 1 billion in magnesium mining and the development of a magnesium metal factory in Romania, Ziarul Financiar reported last year. The mining works will last up to five years, and in parallel, work will also be done on the development of the magnesium metal production unit.
iulian@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Mariodeambrogiomd/Dreamstime.com)
