Nuclearelectrica and Critical Metals collaborate to build a factory in Romania that will process rare earths from Greenland, reducing the EU's dependence on China.

Romania is preparing to become a strategic player in the rare earths market through a joint venture between Nuclearelectrica and Critical Metals, which will build a processing plant for resources from Greenland. The plant will transform the concentrate extracted from the Tanbreez mine, one of the largest rare earth deposits in the world, into rare metals for use in the European Union. This project will secure 50% of the mine's resources for Romania, strengthening national security and reducing dependence on China, which controls the majority of global processing.

The Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, emphasized the importance of this initiative for Europe, which will benefit from independent sources of strategic materials. The project will benefit from European funding from a package of 3.5 billion euros dedicated to the rare metals industry. Critical Metals, the company behind the project, specializes in the extraction and processing of critical metals and is majority-owned by European Lithium.