In recent years, a number of reports on critical and strategic mineral resources have been commissioned by governments and produced by various research organizations and consulting firms. These reports have primarily come in response to China’s growing restrictions on the export of rare earth elements (REEs) and an increased global awareness of the importance of REEs and many other strategic metals integral to national security and economic growth. The European Community commissioned paper Critical Raw Materials for the EU, and consequent report, Material Risk: Access to Technology Minerals, produced by Ernst & Young in September 2010, exemplify the prevailing concern about dependence on foreign supplies of strategic raw materials.
The initial report by the EC, also published in 2010, identified 14 raw materials as critical to European industry, whereas, Material Risk explores “the supply risks facing producers and consumers of these technology minerals, and assess(es) the European mining and metals sectors ability to respond to the supply chain challenge.” While recognizing that the supply of ‘technology metals’ is under pressure, there is no stated recognition that much of this perceived pressure is due to the world’s increasing reliance on Chinese primary production of strategic minerals, including REEs, antimony, bismuth, indium, gallium, germanium and silicon. Nevertheless, the question that remains is: What role, if any, do governments have in supporting domestic industries reliant on critical raw materials or strategic metals?
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