Strategic minerals: Global challenges post-COVID-19

Giese, Ellen Cristine

doi:10.1016/j.exis.2022.101113

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The (renewable) energy transition clearly does have a material basis in terms of modern technologies [95] as applied in an energy context [96]. Even though rare earth metals are not necessarily very "rare", they do have ecological, spatial, and economic [97] footprints to work through and variable availabilities depending on the strategies and trajectories of mining, production, and consumption [11,98]. This is especially so if we are to enter a post-oil and post-gas phase, with considerable potential for destabilization along that route [99].…”

Section: Future Pathwaysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Rare Earth Elements as Critical Raw Materials

et al. 2023

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The boom in technological advances in recent decades has led to increased demand for rare earth elements (REEs) (also known as rare earth metals) across various industries with wide-ranging industrial applications, including in the clean energy sector, but with some environmental, economic, and social footprint concerns. This paper reviews the complexities of the production, consumption, and reuse or recovery of REEs, presenting current trends in terms of potentials and challenges associated with this. This paper in particular focuses on the supply, demand, and (environmental and economic) sustainability of REEs, as a subset of critical raw materials. It does so via a critical stocktaking of key discussions and debates in the field over the past 15 years up until now, through a thematic analysis of the published and gray (policy) literature with a grounded theory approach. The paper finds that carefully balanced lifecycle sustainability assessments are needed for assessing the respective dimensions of the extraction, processing, and reuse or recovery methods for different types of REE sources and supplies to meet current and future demands. It furthermore diagnoses the need for taking into account some shifts and substitutions among REEs also for reasons of cost and locational supplies for the security of supply. Finally, the paper provides some overall policy recommendations for addressing current problems, with a conceptual framing of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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Section: Future Pathwaysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Rare Earth Elements as Critical Raw Materials

et al. 2023

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“…First, in December 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. In January 2022, as the region was highly impacted by COVID-19, China implemented strict restrictive movement policies related to work conditions that triggered disruptions on its international trade, exposing the dependence of the world economy on the supply chain related to metals, plastics, electronics, and other goods for which China is the leading world exporter [17]. Therefore, the reinforcement of the need for sustainable exploitation of local resources and the importance of overcoming the vulnerability of the supply chain for critical materials could be seen as triggered by the COVID-19 crisis.…”

Section: Annual Publications and Growth Trendmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Research Progress and Trends on Critical Metals: A Bibliometric Analysis

2023

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In the perspective of observing the latest worldwide and European strategies toward green transition and delivering a secured access to local resources, the objective of this study was to analyze the research progress on critical materials and, more specific, critical metals and review the future research hot-topics for critical metals. Consequently, a bibliometric analysis for the assessment of the current state of the art research, future trends as well as evolution through time of the critical metals research was performed in the present work. The study included four phases of work: (i) search string selection, (ii) data collection, (iii) data processing, and (iv) data interpretation. A total of 433 publications on critical metals were collected from Scopus database between 1977 and 2023, with an increasing yearly trend and a burst in 2013. The data retrieved showed a significant increase in publications related to the topic in the last 10 years. The results show that research interest is concentrated around six critical areas: (i) bioleaching as an important process of critical metal recovery, (ii) circular economy concepts and recovery of critical metals by urban mining from e-waste, (iii) resource recovery from waste landfills as urban mines, (iv) targeted studies on various critical elements (copper, zinc, gallium, silver, lithium), (v) rare elements as industry vitamins and, (vi) coal deposits and coal ashes as an alternative source of critical metals. This analysis could provide important guidance for further directions on the development of research for recovery of critical metals.

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“…Mining companies were affected by restrictions to favor social distancing. Mine’s projects slowed down or temporarily closed (Castro 2020 ; Gałaś et al 2021 ; Giese 2022 ). In Italy which was badly hit by the virus, the Alta Zinc project temporarily closed down its activities in March; otherwise, most mines continued their operations (James 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of COVID-19 for the Ecuadorian mining industry in 2020: risks and opportunities

et al. 2023

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On 11 March 2020, COVID-19, which started in Wuhan (China), was declared a pandemic. Since then, casualties have been increasing and have not ceased. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the Ecuadorian mining industry and to identify the capacities and weaknesses caused by the sanitary crisis. For this purpose, the study was structured in four stages: (a) bibliographic review of organizations at the international level; (b) collection of local data (surveys and interviews); (c) multi-criteria analysis, and (d) selection of social and economic indicators that can be replicated in Ecuador’s mining sector. International data indicated notable progress in the social, health, and safety areas but less in the labor-economic aspect. Surveys and interviews showed the different impacts of COVID-19 in Ecuador’s mining sector, and multi-criteria analysis along with social and economic indicators served as a reference for recommendations to improve the weaknesses detected and reinforcing the strengths of the sector. The Ecuadorian scenario is different from the one abroad; companies presented more social and economic information and less about health and safety than international companies.

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Strategic minerals: Global challenges post-COVID-19

Cited by 14 publications

References 30 publications

Understanding Rare Earth Elements as Critical Raw Materials

Understanding Rare Earth Elements as Critical Raw Materials

Global Research Progress and Trends on Critical Metals: A Bibliometric Analysis

The impact of COVID-19 for the Ecuadorian mining industry in 2020: risks and opportunities

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