REPORT ON CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS FOR THE EU CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS PROFILES Contents REPORT ON CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS FOR THE EU 1 1 Critical Raw Materials 1 1.1 Antimony (Stibium) 1 1.2 Beryllium 11 1.3 Borates 17 1.4 Chromium 26 1.5 Cobalt (Cobaltum) 34 1.6 Coking coal 42 1.7 Fluorspar (Fluorite) 50 1.8 Gallium 57 1.9 Germanium 67 1.10 Indium 77 1.11 Magnesite 86 1.12 Magnesium 92 1.13 Natural graphite 99 1.14 Niobium 109 1.15 Phosphate rock 116 1.16 Platinum group metals* 123 1.17 Rare earth elements (Light and Heavy)* 146 1.18 Silicon metal (Silicium) 184 1.19 Tungsten (Wolframium) 193 *Separate profiles for the metals in these groups are provided with the group profile. See separate documents for main report and non-critical raw material profiles. For DG Enterprise and Industry Glossary APT ammonium paratungstate BGR German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources BGS British Geological Survey BRGM Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières CAGR compound annual growth rate CCM Caustic calcined magnesite CIGS Copper indium gallium (di)selenide CIS Copper indium (di)selenide DBM Dead burned magnesite DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo EEA European Environment Agency ENRC Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation EOL-RR end-of-life recycling rate FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FCCs fluid cracking catalysts FM Fused Magnesite HREEs Heavy Rare Earth Elements IC integrated circuit IR infrared radiation ITO Indium Titanium Oxide LCD Liquid-Crystal Display LED light emitting diode Li-ion lithium-ion LREEs Light Rare Earth Elements MG-Si Metallurgical grade Silicon MMTA Minor Metals Trade Association OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PBNR pebble bed nuclear reactor PCB printed circuit board PGM platinum group metal ppm parts per million PTFE Polytetrafluoroethylene PV photovoltaic PVC Polyvinyl Chlorine REACH Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals REE Rare Earth Elements SVHC Substances of Very High Concern (REACH) UNEP United Nations Environmental Programme USGS US Geological Survey WMD World Mining Data Deposit – A concentration of material of possible economic interest in or on the Earth’s crust. Reserves – The term is synonymously used for ‘mineral reserve’, ‘probable mineral reserve’ and ‘proven mineral reserve’. In this case, confidence in the reserve is measured by the geological knowledge and data, while at the same time the extraction would be legally, economically and technically feasible and a licensing permit is certainly available. Resources – The term is synonymously used for ‘mineral resource’, ‘inferred mineral resource’, ‘indicated mineral resource’ and ‘measured mineral resource’. In this case, confidence in the existence of a resource is indicated by the geological knowledge and preliminary data, while at the same time the extraction would be legally, economically and technically feasible and a licensing permit is probable For DG Enterprise and Industry 1 Critical Raw Materials 1.1 Antimony (Stibium) 1.1.1 Introduction Antimony (Sb, atomic number 51) is a silvery-white, shiny, very brittle and semiconducting element. Due to its poor mechanical properties, pure antimony is only used in very small quantities; larger amounts are used for alloys and in antimony compounds.a Like water, liquid antimony expands upon freezing. This anomalous property is used in alloys to minimize shrinkage in the casting process. There are more than b 100 known antimony-containing minerals, of which the most important is stibnite (Sb2S3). The extraction process of antimony ore depends on the content of antimony. Ores with more than 90% stibnite are sold unprocessed as crude antimony ore (stibnite). Ores with a content of 45-60% stibnite are processed by liquefaction because of the low melting point of stibnite. Low-grade ores are processed by flotation to obtain crude stibnite.b Following extraction, this material is processed to antimony metal or alloys, which are the basis for the various applications of antimony. There is no current mining of antimony in the European Union, but the following processing stages (Figure 1, in orange) have been indicated to occur within Europe.c Some important producers of antimony metal and antimony oxide are located in Belgium, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, UK, Netherlands, Romania and Slovakia.b Figure 1: Supply chain map for antimony Beneficiation Concentrates Mine Processing to Manufacture (Liquidation / / crude End of life antimony ores metal / alloy and use Flotation) antimony •Roasting •Flame retardents •Reduction •Batteries •Hydrometallurgy •Plastics •Electrometallury Recovery Source: In accordance with Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry: Antimony and Antimony Compounds, 2006 Note: Orange colour represents stages of the supply chain which take place in Europe. 1.1.2 Supply Primary sources, production and refining Antimony is a rare element, belonging to the 7th tier (in decreasing order, out of 9) of the order of abundance of the elements, according to Ronov et al. (1969).d The average antimony content of the Earth’s crust has been estimated at 0.20001% (i.e. 1 ppm (parts per million, equivalent to grams per metric tonne). Most antimony lodes occur in volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Deposits have an average e antimony content of between 0.1 and 2 wt%. The most important antimony ore mineral (stibnite, Sb2S3) contains 71.7% antimony. Antimony is commonly mined as a by-product of gold, silver, lead or zinc.f a Antimon, Römpp Online, 2004 b Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry: Antimony and Antimony Compounds, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 2006 c European Mineral Statistics 2007-2011, British Geological Survey, 2013 d A.B. Ronov, A.A. Yaroshevsky, Earth's Crust Geochemistry, in Encyclopedia of Geochemistry and Environmental Sciences, R.W. Fairbridge (ed.), Van Nostrand, New York, (1969) e Antimon, Römpp Online, 2004 f Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry: Antimony and Antimony Compounds, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 2006 1 Reserves of antimony are shown in Table 1. Over half the global reserves of antimony are located in China. Russia and Bolivia also have considerable reserves. USGS reports that US resources of antimony are located mainly in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada.a For refining please see EU trade flows. Table 1: Worldwide antimony reserves (antimony content)b Country Reserves (tonnes) % Bolivia 310,000 17 China 950,000c 53 Russia 350,000 19 South Africa 27,000 2 Tajikistan 50,000 3 Other Countries 150,000 8 Total (rounded) 1,800,000 - Source: USGS Supply details In 2011, the global market for antimony was roughly 150,000 tonnes (Figure 2). China is the largest producer of antimony with a share of 86% of world production in 2011. Figure 2: Worldwide production of antimony in 2011d Australia Other 1% 2% Turkey Russia 1% 2% South Africa 2% Bolivia 3% China 86% Tajikistan 3% Source: World Mining Data 2013 Other producing countries include Turkey, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. There is no primary antimony production in the EU anymore, although there has been in the past in France and Romaniae. New antimony exploration sites in Armenia, Australia, Canada, China, Georgia, Italy, Laos, Russia, and Turkey are being developed.f EU trade flows and consumption Overall, the EU is a net importer of antimony ores and concentrates, importing around net 200 tonnes per year (Figure 3) – with two exceptions; in 2008 EU exports were much lower compared to other years and in 2012 the EU was a net exporter with exports being much larger compared to previous years. As a USGS (2013), Mineral Commodity Summaries 2013, Antimony b Source: USGS (2013), Mineral Commodity Summaries 2013, Antimony c Official Chinese Statistics have a much lower value. See http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2012/indexeh.htm d The category others only summarizes several countries in order to clean up the pie diagram, but these countries enter separately the analysis. e See for instance Antimony profile by BRGM at http://www.mineralinfo.fr/panoramas.html for more details (in French). f Mineral Commodity Summaries: Antimony, US Geological Survey, 2013 2 mentioned above, antimony is not mined in the EU therefore the net-export in 2012 must be due to ores and concentrates accumulated in previous years. Figure 3: Trends in extra-EU trade for antimony ores and concentrates (tonnes) 2 000 1 500 1 000 EU Export EU Import 500 Net Export 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 -500 -1 000 Source: Eurostat-Comext Database, CN 2617 1000 [accessed August 2013] Turkey is the largest exporter of antimony ores and concentrates into the EU, accounting for around 62% of all EU imports (Figure 4). Over half of EU exports are to China, with the USA as the second largest export market. Analysis of the value and price per kg of the trade flow suggests that antimony ores and concentrates are exported from the EU for refining to countries such as China, which is a major antimony refiner. It is possible that these ores transit through Europe and into China as no ore production is present in Europe. 3 Figure 4: EU’s major trading partners for antimony ores and concentrates, 2012 EU exports of antimony ores and concentrates (1,519 t) Other Brazil 7% 4% India 6% China 55% USA 28% EU imports of antimony ores and concentrates (1,406 t) Other Guatema 0% la 6% Turkey 62% Bolivia 32% Source: Eurostat-Comext Database, CN 2617 1000 [accessed August 2013] Figure 5 shows trade data for unwrought antimony and powders. As can be seen, the EU is a net-importer of this material importing around 20,000 tonnes net per year. This is consistent with the fact that no antimony is produced in the EU. The figure also shows dips in 2009, 2011 and 2012 which are likely to be due to the economic conditions in those years.