L’ISPRA (Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research) has published the updated GeMMA (Geological, Mining, Museum and Environmental) database of Mineral Resources present in Italy, including the critical raw materialsthat is, those raw materials that have great economic importance but whose supply is limited. This database is essential for processing the National Mineral Exploration Programwhich provides for the relaunch of the mining industry in Italy. The basis of the Program is the Critical Raw Materials Actthe regulation that came into force this year with which the European Commission outlines the strategies for the sustainable extraction of critical raw materials in Europe, with the aim of becoming less and less dependent on foreign countries for the supply of materials useful for the energy transition.
From the GeMMA database it emerges that the currently active mines in Italy they are 76of which 22 provide two critical raw materials: feldspar And fluorite. However, data on deposits exploited in the past and those coming from research campaigns document the presence of numerous other critical raw materials.
Critical raw material mines active in Italy
The GeMMA database collects data relating to all the deposits exploited in the past and now decommissioned (since 1870), at mines still in operation and information from research campaigns carried out over time. It follows that the mines still active in the country there are 7622 of which supply some of the 34 critical raw materials identified by the EU. In 20 of these the feldsparan essential mineral for the ceramic industry, and in 2 the fluoriteused in the steel, aluminum, glass, electronics and refrigeration industries. In particular, the fluorite mine of Genna Three Mountains (in Sardinia) will become one of the most important in Europe when it returns to full production. Another 91 fluorite mines, located in Lombardy, Trentino, Lazio and Sardinia, have been exploited in the past and could be exploited again.
Untapped Deposits of Critical Raw Materials in Italy
Past mining activities and the results of explorations of the territory show the presence in Italy of other critical and strategic raw materials.
THE critical metal-bearing materials They provide essential metals for the energy transition: today in Italy they are not extracted, but in the past they were well 900 deposits exploited. The reopening of these mines should be evaluated taking into account current market prices and new technologies available for exploration. Deposits of copper they are found in the Tuscan Apennines and in the Ligurian-Emilian Apennines, in the western Alps, in Trentino and in Sardinia; manganese it was extracted in Liguria and Tuscany; tungsten it is found in Calabria, Sardinia and the Western Alps; cobalt in Sardinia and Piedmont; the magnesite in Tuscany; the titanium in Liguria; the bauxitefrom which aluminium is obtained and which also contains rare earths, was extracted mainly in Puglia and Sardinia; celestinefrom which strontium is obtained, is present in Sicily; lithium it is found on the island of Elba and in large quantities in the geothermal fluids of Tuscany, Lazio and Campania.
Between non-metallic critical materials there are: the bariteused in the paper, chemical and mechanical industries, in Lombardy and Trentino; graphiteextracted in the past to produce dyes, lubricants and pencils, in Piedmont, Liguria and Calabria.
The GeMMA database also contains information on the depositional structures of mining waste. In fact, waste from past mining activities can constitute a source of raw materials. In Italy there are approximately 150 million cubic meters of wastewhich in several cases are polluting soil and water, but which could be recovered.
