After Europe has managed to reduce its dependence on Russian natural gas in recent years, a new strategic risk is on the agenda – a shortage of critical raw materials.
Lithium, cobalt, graphite, gallium and germanium are no longer just raw materials, but a key factor for the economic and energy security of the European Union.
Without them, there is no production of batteries, electric cars, solar panels, wind generators, electronic components and modern defense technologies. That is why Brussels adopted the Critical Raw Materials Act (Critical Raw Materials Act – CRMA), which should ensure that by the end of the decade Europe will increase its own capabilities for mining, processing and recycling important minerals and reduce its dependence on China. The law provides for accelerated procedures for strategic projects, easier access to European funding and coordination between member states.
“Our daily life depends on these raw materials. They are in mobile phones, computers, they are part of energy production, especially renewable energy. They have a number of applications in the military industry, mechanical engineering and in nuclear energy as well“, says Prof. Svetoslav Georgiev, Director of the Geological Institute of the BAH.
The problem is that Europe is experiencing a serious structural deficit. The continent has limited domestic deposits and refining and processing capacities - precisely where the highest added value is created.
China continues to control a large part of the world's rare earth processing. The restrictions imposed on the export of some of these raw materials in 2025 have shown how easily European production chains can be disrupted.
In the new geopolitical environment, Central and Eastern Europe is striving to gain a foothold.
Hungary has chosen to become a European hub for battery production by attracting large Asian investors.
The Czech Republic is developing the strategic lithium deposit of Cinovec, which could become one of the largest sources of lithium in Europe.
Slovakia is looking for opportunities to build its own industrial ecosystem around future deposits.
Poland has created a national strategy. There, mining wastewater is seen as a potential source of critical raw materials, and scientific teams are developing technologies for extracting rare earth elements from them.
Of particular interest is the utilization of so-called secondary raw materials – mining waste, tailings ponds and wastewater from the mining industry. This is one of the most dynamically developing policies of the European Union, because it allows the extraction of critical elements to increase without opening new mines. The aim is to simultaneously reduce the environmental footprint of the mining industry and create new domestic sources of raw materials.
What these countries have in common is the desire to not just remain production sites, but to move up the value chain - towards refining, materials production and recycling.
Where is Bulgaria?
Although the topic rarely comes into the focus of public debate, Bulgaria has a far better starting position than is often assumed.
The country has one of the most developed mining industries in Europe. Honey extraction is among the strategic sectors of the economy, and companies such as „Asarel-Medet“ and “Ellatsite-Mead“ are already investing in modern technologies for more efficient extraction of useful components, digitalization of production and reduction of the ecological footprint.
Similar to Poland, Bulgaria has dozens of old tailings dams and mining sites, which probably contain valuable quantities of germanium, gallium, cobalt and other strategic elements.
Among the promising raw materials are also barite, tungsten and a number of by-products from mining activities.
According to Prof. Peycheva from the Geological Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria is already a leading European supplier of barite obtained from the waste of the “Kremikovtsi“ deposit, which shows that some of the resources for the future industry can be found precisely where it was previously treated as waste.
However, the developed mining industry is Bulgaria's strongest competitive advantage. A great example of what a modern mining enterprise should look like in the context of European policy is the mining and processing complex "Milin Kamak" near Breznik. The investor "Breznik Minerals" has demonstrated the capacity to develop new deposits that meet the highest environmental and technological standards.
It is precisely these industrial competencies that will be decisive when Bulgaria applies for projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act, whether it concerns mining, processing, extraction of associated critical elements or recycling. The conclusion is clear, the country's great advantage is the accumulated engineering, technological and investment capacity of the leading companies in the mining sector.
However, the challenges remain serious. The European Court of Auditors warned that despite the ambitious goals of European legislation, the procedures for permitting and implementing such projects remain slow.
“The issue today is the state of the project and the availability of prepared objects, and not the mere existence of useful excavations.“, recently stated the executive director of the Bulgarian Mining and Geological Chamber, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eng. Ivan Mitev.
According to Prof. Peycheva, however, Bulgaria must also solve a less visible but significant problem - the presentation of national geological data in European information systems. According to her, the country still does not have its own geological survey to maintain information in the platforms of the Association of European Geological Surveys. The good news is that work is being done together with the Ministry of Energy to build such a database. According to her, better coordination between institutions will be key if Bulgaria wants to fully benefit from the opportunities of the European policy for critical raw materials.
There are two perspectives for Bulgaria. The country can remain the only supplier of raw materials and realize limited economic benefits or it can manage to build a complete ecosystem - from geological surveys and extraction through processing to recycling and research, and thus become a significant European industrial player.
In years to come, it will not only matter which countries had the richest deposits. What will matter is which ones have managed to build industry, technologies and added value around them, because in times of geopolitical turbulence, raw materials are not just geology - they are politics and national security!