It’s official: rare earths, graphite, and fluorspar are critical for the European Union and are deemed a “high supply risk”. These and 11 other materials have been shortlisted by the European Commission (EC) in a report released 17 June 2010 that the EC claims puts forward a “relative concept of criticality” (IM 17 June 2010: EU names 14 critical minerals).
The high supply risk is mainly due to a high share of global production of these materials coming from a small number of countries outside the EU, namely China, Russia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Brazil (see chart below).
As we know, one customer’s “critical” or “strategic” mineral...