Abstract
The mineral raw materials’ resource efficiency is currently recognized in Europe as the way for the future development of the European mining economies. With this aim, a West Balkan Mineral Register was created in the EIT Raw Materials RESEERVE Project, including Primary and Secondary Raw Materials of six Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (ESEE) countries, i.e., Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. Within the Project, a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) and Gap Analysis was also performed for the development of the raw material sector in the region. This paper summarizes the main strengths to be exploited, i.e., the significant geological potential, the presence of critical raw materials (e.g., Sb, Co, REEs) in primary and secondary raw materials, and the challenges to address, i.e., compliance of resources/reserves classification with international standards, integration of state’s mineral policy with spatial planning strategies, improvement of the business environment, capacity building of the raw materials workforce and enhancement of the public acceptance of the sector, in order to achieve the sustainable development of the mineral resources of the six ESEE countries. These opportunities comply with the objectives of the EU Raw Materials Initiative and are expected to contribute in the further enhancement of those economies in transition for the upcoming years.
Highlights
As emphasized in the EC Raw Materials Initiative (RMI), raw materials are essential for the sustainable functioning of Europe’s industries and, in a broader context, of Europe’s economy and society [1]
This paper presents the strengths to be exploited and the challenges that the six examined Eastern Europe (ESEE) countries, i.e., Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, need to address in order to achieve mineral raw materials resource efficiency
Data presented in the article regarding geological potential of deposits were based on the West Balkan Mineral Register [6], the database created within the RESEERVE Project, for primary and secondary raw materials in compliance with the INSPIRE Guidelines for Mineral Resources [8]
Summary
As emphasized in the EC Raw Materials Initiative (RMI), raw materials are essential for the sustainable functioning of Europe’s industries and, in a broader context, of Europe’s economy and society [1]. The unique geological potential of primary raw materials (PRMs) in the ESEE Region with a great percent being mined and the presence of secondary raw materials (SRMs), results in the high relevance of the ESEE region with the European commodity strategy [3] This issue has been addressed in a number of recent EU-funded research projects, e.g., SARMA [4], RIS-RESTORE [5], and RESEERVE [6], whose findings evidence that the main factors affecting the sustainable exploitation and management of mineral resources in ESEE countries include the prevailing mineral policies, land use planning, permitting procedures and stake holders involvement, exploitation of secondary resources, and geological data management
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