Building EU-Africa partnerships on sustainable raw materials value chain

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Mapping the Pan-African inventory of Critical Raw Material deposits and processing capacities

Publication . Fortes, Carla; de Oliveira, Daniel Pipa Soares; Guillaneau, Jean-Claude; Marques Prazeres, Cátia

ABSTRACT: The AfricaMaVal project (2022–2025) supported the European Union’s objective of securing responsible and sustainable access to Extended Critical Raw Materials (ECRM) through strengthened cooperation with African countries. This study presents the development of two harmonised pan-African inventories: an ECRM mineral deposit database and a database of existing ore processing and refining capacities. Using the Minerals4EU data model within an INSPIRE compliant framework, heterogeneous datasets were integrated and validated through commercial and consortium sources. The resulting inventories document more than 20.000 mineral occurrences and 219 processing facilities, classified as plants, smelters, refineries and concentrators. The analysis reveals a strong geographical concentration, with South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo hosting over half of all facilities, and processing activities largely centred on copper and cobalt. These findings highlight regional disparities and priority areas for investment. Overall, the inventories provide a robust knowledge base to support a resilient EU raw materials strategy and guide future EU–Africa partnerships.

2026-09Artigo científico

Acesso aberto

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Entidade financiadora

European Commission

Programa de financiamento

HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions

Número da atribuição

101057832