Koen Doens, a senior official of the European Commission, has laid his cards on the table at the EIT Raw Materials Summit in Brussels. According to Doens, the fight for materials like lithium, cobalt, or graphite is no longer just about extraction, but about total control over the entire supply chain. Whoever dominates refining and industrial capacity will hold the key to the energy transition.
From mineral to chip: the technical chain that decides the future ⚙️
The challenge is not just digging it out of the ground, but processing it. Lithium requires high-purity refineries for batteries, and cobalt needs ethical and efficient supply chains. Europe seeks to reduce its dependence on China, which controls 60% of global refining. The key lies in investing in local processing and recycling plants, as well as agreements with countries like Chile or Australia. Without that infrastructure, the mineral is worth little.
The new gold: turns out cobalt now matters more than oil 😅
Doens compares these minerals to 20th-century oil, but with a comedic twist: wars used to be fought over crude, now they're over rare earths and graphite. The irony is that while politicians debate, speculators are already buying mines in the Congo and Chile. In the end, power will belong to whoever has the best phone charger. Or whoever recycles the most old batteries.