Mineral exploration programme kicks off across Italy: from graphite to platinum, here's what you aim to extract

There are 14 research projects contained in the National Programme for Mining Exploration general just approved by the Interministerial Committee for Ecological Transition (CITE), distributed throughout the country, in key regions such as Lombardy, Piedmont, Trentino-Alto Adige, Liguria, Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Calabria, Emilia Romagna, Marche and Sardinia, to which is added the national mapping of extractive waste deposits envisaged by the PNRR URBES project.

The programme, the realisation of which was entrusted by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) and the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy (MIMIT) to ISPRA's Geological Survey of Italy, involves 15 operational units and more than 400 specialists, with an investment of EUR 3.5 million dedicated to the first phase of the investigation of natural deposits.

The approval of the PNE, reads a note from the bodies involved, 'marks a strategic return for Italy to the valorisation of its mineral resources, from a modern, sustainable perspective and in line with European priorities'. The objective, they add, is to build an updated picture of Italy's mineral potential, integrating historical information with a new exploration campaign, more than 30 years after the last public investment in the sector. The programme also aims to provide preliminary indications to Italian and foreign investors on the availability of raw materials in the country.

The investigation activities will focus on the most promising areas, selected by a team of experts from among Italy's leading mineral deposit specialists. The focus will be on several 'critical and strategic raw materials' identified by the European Commission, including: lithium, boron, graphite, copper, manganese, fluorspar, barite, feldspar, antimony, tungsten, titanium, bismuth, arsenic, magnesium, rare earths and platinum group metals. The focus also extends to other minerals of interest to domestic industry, such as zeolites and industrial minerals.

The exploration focuses will cover almost all of the country's geographical macro-areas, focusing in particular on areas already known for their mineral potential or for the presence of favourable geological formations. In the North-East, Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige will be the focus of exploration for the presence of fluorite and barite, as well as rare earths located in the Southern Alps. In the North-West, the focus will be on the Finero area in Piedmont for the investigation of platinum group metals (PGM), while copper and manganese deposits will be explored in the Ligurian ophiolites. Also in Piedmont and Liguria, graphite deposits will be explored. In Central Italy, particularly in Tuscany, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, Marche and some areas of Piedmont, the potential of lithium will be analysed, both in geothermal and sedimentary contexts. In Tuscany, the well-known antimony and magnesium deposits of the Metalliferous Hills will be studied, while in Lazio, activities will focus on fluorspar, also in relation to its concentration in rare earths. In southern Italy, Campania will be involved in investigations into lithium, feldspars and other industrial minerals that are strategic for national industry, while in Calabria, the significant graphite deposits of Sila will be examined. In Sardinia, historically Italy's main mining region, exploration will focus on various materials: industrial minerals such as feldspars, zeolites, bentonites and kaolin found in magmatic areas; fluorite, barite and rare earth mineralisations in the centre-south of the island; and the most important metalliferous deposits. In particular, work will be carried out in the Funtana Raminosa district, where tungsten, rare earths, copper and other sulphides will be investigated, and in the south-western sector of the island, where the focus is on copper and molybdenum, associated with tin, bismuth, arsenic and gold.