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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
A recent analysis by the EU-funded REEsilience project reveals that exploiting just a fraction of the world’s low-risk rare earth deposits could significantly reduce Europe’s dependence on imports and help secure the supply of these critical materials vital to its green energy transition.
Due to their use in permanent magnets, Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are essential for modern technologies, especially wind turbines, electric vehicles, and other components of the EU’s clean energy ambitions. Yet, Europe is highly dependent on imports—primarily from China—making the supply chain vulnerable to disruptions.
In recent years, Rare Earth Elements have received increased attention in politics and the media, driven by their strategic importance and the environmental, social and geopolitical challenges surrounding their supply. As critical components of permanent magnets, REEs are indispensable to a wide range of modern technologies – particularly those powering the green energy transition. With Europe heavily dependent on imports, primarily from China, concerns over supply security, market volatility, and unsustainable extraction practices have intensified. As Europe undergoes an ambitious energy transition, the need for a secure and reliable supply of REEs has become increasingly apparent. The EU project REEsilience seeks to address this need by developing a sustainable and resilient supply chain for rare earth magnets, essential for renewable energy technologies and electric vehicles.
Mapping of REE Sources
In examining the entire supply chain for rare earth magnets, material sources form the first crucial step. Over the past months, REEsilience partners - led by TU Delft and Leiden University - have therefore focused on mapping availability, prices and quantity development of different REE sources with non-Chinese origin in the time period 2022 -2035. To this end, a comprehensive inventory has been compiled using available data from literature, industry and expert interviews and covering both primary sources (mining operations) as well as secondary sources (recyclable end-of-life products).
Maarten Koese, Leiden University commented: “A critical mineral supply chain can only be truly resilient if it is also sustainable, in the broadest sense. That’s why it’s important to consider ESG aspects before exploiting new rare earth deposits.”
Prof. Dr. Carlo Burkhardt, Coordinator of REEsilience commented: “For a supply chain that is both resilient and sustainable, it is of vital importance not to focus only on the technical part of magnet production but to see the bigger picture. Our REEsilience partners have done a tremendous job here.”
For the assessment of primary sources, the researchers analysed and compared 149 REE deposits worldwide based on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk profiles. As a key takeaway, the analysis shows that even exploiting just a few of the world’s low ESG risk deposits could solve the EU’s REE supply challenges.
Findings indicate that high environmental risks are concentrated in ecologically sensitive zones such as Brazil, central Africa, and Southeast Asia. Social risks often correlate with population density, making densely inhabited zones—especially in parts of Africa and South Asia—more prone to disruption and conflict. Governance risk patterns mirror broader institutional trends, with Scandinavian countries, Canada, and Australia scoring best, and states like Burundi, Russia, and parts of Central Asia ranking among the most challenging.
A Few Deposits Could Make the Difference
Only a relatively small subset of deposits, primarily located in Western Nations, combine low ESG risks with strategic geological characteristics. Norway’s Fen complex stands out for its scale, ore quality, and low ESG profile. Projects in Sweden and Finland—such as Kiruna, Norra Kärr, and Katajakangas—offer moderate to high potential within a stable regulatory environment. Greenland represents a unique and promising case: it hosts several large, low risk deposits and maintains a special political relationship with the EU through Denmark. Outside Europe, partnerships with Canada and Australia appear especially promising due to good governance outlooks, lower ESG risks, and a higher proportion of deposits already at advanced stages of development.
System Dynamics Model to Assess Future Developments
REEsilience partner TU Delft has further developed a system dynamics model in which interactions within the supply chain are analysed to assess possible future developments in supply and demand as well as possible price developments using available data. Here, different scenarios were considered, including one without any disruptions, one with demand and supply disruptions and one with disruptions alongside the implementation of resilience measures related to increased product lifetimes and recycling. The initial results are once again encouraging for the EU: although supply disruptions could cause significant price spikes, these effects can be mitigated through the adoption of the proposed resilience measures. The researchers will further develop and refine the model in the coming months.
Dr.ir. Willem Auping, Delft University of Technology commented: "Simulation modelling of uncertain systems like global metal supply chains can really help with understanding the future challenges of these systems and how to overcome them."
Toward a Resilient and More Sustainable Supply Chain for Magnetic Rare Earth Materials and Products
While the mapping of REE sources addresses the initial steps of the value chain, REEsilience takes a comprehensive approach, encompassing the entire rare earth magnet value chain. Project partners are advancing ICT-enabled alloy and powder production technology, enhancing transparency across material flows, and implementing fully automated magnet manufacturing processes aimed at boosting EU production capacity. In parallel, the project focuses on increasing recycling rates, developing magnets with enhanced functionalities and creating a concept for training the next generation of magnet experts. As the project approaches its conclusion in June 2026, further results are expected to emerge in the coming months.
About REEsilience
REEsilience is funded by the European Union’s research and innovation programme Horizon Europe (GA No. 101058598) and coordinated by the Institute for Precious Metals and Technology (STI) of Pforzheim University, Germany and will last until June 2026. The consortium comprises 18 project partners from ten European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom).
Steinbeis Europa Zentrum, as a project partner leads the communication in the project. It supports the project partners in dissemination activities and networking with relevant initiatives and projects, the exploitation of project results as well as administrative and financial issues of project management.
Contact:
Press: Eva Kopf, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum, eva.kopf@steinbeis-europa.de
Coordinator:
Prof. Dr. Carlo Burkhardt, Institute for Precious Metals and Technology, Pforzheim University
carlo.burkhardt@hs-pforzheim.de
Partner:
Dr.ir. Willem Auping, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology
w.l.auping@tudelft.nl
Partner:
Maarten Koese, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University
j.m.koese@cml.leidenuniv.nl
Prof. Dr. Carlo Burkhardt, Institute for Precious Metals and Technology, Pforzheim University
carlo.burkhardt@hs-pforzheim.de
https://reesilience.eu/ - project website
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