The race for rare earths also drags on mining companies
In charge of the relaunch of the fluorite mine in Sardinia is Valente, a Milan-based company with experience from the Channel Tunnel to the Turin-Lyon Tav
The race for rare earths is also dragging on the activities of companies that carry out collateral and preparatory activities to mining. Because, in the restarting of a mine, an entire supply chain has to be brought into play. This is exactly where Valente Spa, a company founded in Milan in 1919 and operating in the field of equipment for underground workings, has received an order worth more than one million euros for the mine of Silius, in the Gerrei region of Sardinia, where fluorspar mining activities will begin by 2026, with a focus on rare earths.
On the horizon is the extraction of 70 thousand tonnes per year of fluorspar, which is indispensable for lithium ion batteries, and 6.8 thousand tonnes per year of galena (from which lead is made). The Milanese company will supply electric locomotives, locomotives for workers' movements, and mine cars that run on rails to transport the excavated materials, all machinery and equipment for the revamping of the mine and preparatory to its reopening.
"A niche job, but without companies that know how to produce the right equipment, it would be impossible to relaunch mining in Italy,' emphasises Alberto Menoncello, CEO and President of the company. 'We have been supplying rails, switches, wagons and various equipment for tunnelling, i.e., for building underground tunnels, or for mining, since we were established in 1919. For this type of work, means are needed to transport the excavated materials to the surface, and this applies to mining as well as to tunnelling and pipeline excavation. Today, however, the topic of mining reclamation is very much in the spotlight'.
This intervention is part of the plan for the valorisation of mineral resources that maps 76 disused sites and provides for the reactivation of deposits of national interest. These include the Silius site, which has a deposit with a potential of 3 million tonnes of fluorspar, which is increasingly in demand for the batteries that power electric cars and for storing renewable energy. 'It is a strategic resource for the ecological transition,' Menoncello argues. 'Demand for fluorspar has been growing steadily over the past ten years and will continue to increase with the acceleration towards clean energy and green technologies. This order makes us particularly proud: it confirms us as a key player in a debate that is crucial for the future of Italy and for the reduction of dependence on foreign countries".
The Silius bet is but the latest piece in the mosaic of works carried out by the company, which, in the field of tunnelling and mining, has participated in international projects ranging from the Channel Tunnel to the Turin-Lyon TAV, continuing with the Rome Metro, the Florence railway link, and the Campolattaro dam.
