The report

From lithium to cobalt, strategic raw materials for defence, but Italy is vulnerable: here's why

Demand for this type of raw material is set to increase exponentially in the coming decades, in light of their fundamental role in the realisation of the technologies required for the green and digital transition and their essential use in the defence and aerospace sectors

by Andrea Carli

18 June 2025

5' min read

5' min read

The report 'For a national security strategy', presented at the Chamber of Deputies on Monday 16 June in the presence of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, points the finger at what constitutes a serious shortcoming for the defence system. We are talking about critical raw materials, i.e., those non-energy and non-agricultural raw materials that are of great economic importance and are exposed to a high supply risk, often caused by a high concentration of supply in a few countries. Demand for these types of raw materials is set to increase exponentially in the coming decades, in light of their key role in the realisation of the technologies required for the dual green and digital transition and their essential use in the defence and aerospace sectors.

Where we are

The European Union, and therefore also Italy, depends almost entirely on imports, and this - the report emphasises - makes it vulnerable to supply risks: suffice it to say that 97% of magnesium comes from China; heavy rare earths, necessary for the permanent magnets used in wind turbines and electric vehicles, are refined only in China; 63% of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and 67% of the latter is refined in China. The Asian giant, however, has moved early: it has entered into agreements with countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to exploit their resources.

The US signed an agreement with Ukraine for the exploitation of rare earths found there as part of a peace agreement and a commitment for military support to that country.

The situation in Italy

According to studies conducted by Ispra, there are 76 mines still active in Italy, 22 of which are related to materials on the European Union's list of 34 critical raw materials. In 20 of these, feldspar, an essential mineral for the ceramic industry, is mined, and in 2 fluorspar (in the municipalities of Bracciano and Silius), which is widely used in the steel, aluminium, glass, electronics and refrigeration industries. In particular, the fluorspar mine in Genna Tres Montis (South Sardinia), which will be back in full production upon completion of renovation work, will be one of the most important in Europe. Of the 91 other fluorspar mines that were active in the past, some very important ones - to be re-evaluated with today's prices quadrupled since 1990 - are located in the Bergamo, Brescia and Trentino areas, as well as in Sardinia and Lazio. In the subsoil of the Beigua National Park, between Genoa and Savona, one would find the largest reserve oftitanium in Europe. At Punta Corna, in the Vallone di Arnas, in Piedmont, significant quantities of cobalt would be found. Feldspar and fluorspar, however, are to date the only critical raw materials mined in Italy, but current research permits, data on active mines in the past and recent research document the potential presence of various critical and strategic raw materials such as lithium, discovered in significant quantities in the Tuscan-Lazio-Campania geothermal fluids, and such as various other minerals from which metals are produced (copper, cobalt, antimony, manganese, titanium, strontium, tungsten, aluminium, rare earths, gallium, germanium, etc.) that are indispensable for the dual transition between the two worlds of mining.) indispensable for the dual green and digital transition.

An important source of critical raw materials is provided by large deposits of mining waste, i.e. the waste from past mining activities, potentially rich in raw materials that were not sought after at the time. In Sardinia alone, there are about 80 million cubic metres of them. Their mapping and characterisation will be the subject of a specific Pnrr project by Ispra.

Who has these resources

About 50 per cent of the world's reserves of cobalt, manganese and platinum group metals are found in Africa, and Taiwan alone accounts for 52.9 per cent of the global chip market. The Arctic region possesses as many as 31 of the 34 materials considered crucial for clean energy technology.

Europe's needs

According to the Metals for Clean Energy Report published by KU Leuven University, a Catholic University in Flanders, on behalf of Eurometaux, Europe will need 33% more aluminium, 35% more copper, 3,500% more lithium, 100% more nickel, 45% more silicon and 330% more cobalt each year.

Transnational Value Chains

Raw material value chains are transnational. Raw materials are extracted in different regions of the globe, transported for processing, with pollution risks, and sold in the domestic market. The geopolitical hyper-concentration of extraction and industrial plants can lead to easy and frequent supply disruptions and induce strong international competition to secure supply.

The European Union's move

Precisely with the aim of increasing the resilience of supply chains, making them secure and sustainable and avoiding potential fragmentation in the internal market, the European Union adopted on 11 April 2024 the Regulation 2024/1252 Critical Raw Materials (CRM) Act, which entered into force on 23 May 2024. The CRM Act establishes a list of 34 critical raw materials - 17 of which are recognised as strategic as they are crucial for the dual green and digital transition and for the defence and aerospace industries - and sets a number of benchmarks to which the Union must aspire to reach by 2030. These include increasing its mining capacity to cover at least 10 per cent of its annual consumption of strategic raw materials (SPM); increasing its processing capacity to cover at least 40 per cent of its annual consumption of SPM; increasing its recycling capacity to cover at least 25 per cent of its annual consumption of SPM.70 and diversifying the Union's imports of SPM so that no third country covers more than 65 per cent of the Union's annual consumption of SPM.

Under the Regulation, the EU must identify and support projects along the entire CRM value chain that are recognised as 'strategic' because they contribute to security of supply by helping to achieve the benchmarks set by the Regulation. These projects will benefit from simplified authorisation procedures, better access to funding, and will necessarily have to prove that they are environmentally and socially sustainable. The Regulation also provides for the development of a system of monitoring and analysis of supply risk by the European Commission and Member States, also in order to assess the establishment of strategic stocks.

In order to facilitate the development of the value chains of critical raw materials in Europe, especially with regard to the extraction phase, new geological information on the MPCs present in the territory of the Union will be acquired through the elaboration of updated national mineral exploration programmes. In Italy, the preparation of such a plan has been entrusted to Ispra, which has already started work.

... and that of Italy

The Italian government has promoted the drafting of Decree-Law 84/2024 ('Urgent provisions on critical raw materials of strategic interest'). The measure, consisting of 17 articles, introduces into the Italian legal system the first measures to implement the European strategy for a governance system for the safe and sustainable supply of MPCs considered strategic, with interventions on the demand and supply side. On the demand side, the creation of a national registry of strategic companies and value chains was envisaged to monitor CRM flows; collect data and information essential for estimating national CRM needs; and conduct stress tests and identify any vulnerabilities in supply chains.

On the supply side, solutions include the strengthening of the National Made in Italy Fund to support projects in the MPC value-chain and a permanent Technical Committee for Critical and Strategic Raw Materials to enable economic, technical and strategic monitoring of MPC supply chains.

Andrea CarliRedattore
- @AncarliCarli
Luogo: Roma
Lingue parlate: Italiano, inglese e francese
Argomenti: Politica estera e geopolitica
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