EU-backed minerals projects in Africa move from policy to proof

Alex Feytis

Thu, February 19, 2026 astatine 9:21 AM CST 7 min read

The European Commission closed the 2nd exertion circular for strategical task presumption nether the Critical Raw Materials Act connected 15 January 2026, with decisions expected successful the 2nd 4th of 2026 (Q2 2026). The process follows the support of 47 mineral projects wrong the EU successful March 2025 and a further 13 non-EU projects successful June, including 4 successful Africa: successful Malawi, Madagascar, South Africa and Zambia.

Seven months aft those archetypal non-EU designations, Africa has emerged arsenic a cardinal investigating crushed for Europe’s effort to unafraid captious minerals and trim its dependence connected China. Projects scope from uncommon earths, graphite and cobalt developments to processing investments, highlighting the EU’s increasing absorption connected value-added proviso chains beyond extraction.

Yet the continent’s propulsion to determination downstream has agelong been constrained by anemic infrastructure, vigor shortages, h2o scarcity and governmental risk. With 60 strategic-labelled projects present successful spot worldwide, attraction is shifting to what the strategical designation has really delivered – and whether Europe’s partnerships tin construe argumentation ambition into concern reality.

The Zandkopsdrift uncommon earths project, developed by Frontier Rare Earths, is located successful South Africa’s Northern Cape Province and is expected to nutrient astir 17,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of separated uncommon world oxides, including 4,000tpa of magnet uncommon earths, successful summation to 100,000tpa of battery-grade manganese sulphate by 2030. While often described arsenic a mine, the task is chiefly a processing operation: lone 5% of superior costs are for mining, with 95% allocated to the processing plant, efficaciously a chemic refinery, arsenic James Kenny, CEO and co-founder of Frontier Rare Earths, underlined to Mining Technology.

The task is afloat permitted, with mining, biology and entree rights secured, and its societal and labour program has been approved by some section and nationalist authorities. Work began successful 2007, and aft much than 15 years of development, the task represents a $700m (€590.16m) concern successful large-scale chemic processing. During construction, it is expected to employment astir 1,000 people, rising to 750 nonstop jobs successful production, with a further 1,500 indirect roles supported done section services.

“Given the emblematic challenges faced by companies similar ours – namely inferior mining companies – successful processing a task of this standard and complexity, securing the enactment of sovereign and supranational partners is essential, arsenic it brings greater entree to manufacture players, fiscal institutions, financing bodies and downstream partners,” says Kenny.