ANALYSIS Romania, the forgotten link in the war for "rare minerals"

Romania does not yet exploit rare earths on an industrial scale, but is increasingly making its mark on the European map of critical raw materials: graphite, copper, magnesium and, in the future, rare earth elements and other strategic metals. Under the pressure of the "war" for resources between China and the West, Bucharest is trying to recycle a mining sector that collapsed after 1990 and connect it to the new value chains of the green and digital transition.

Romania, from mining periphery to strategic piece in the EU puzzle

Romania does not yet appear in global statistics regarding rare earth production, but for the first time in decades, it enters the short league of European countries with strategic projects in critical raw materials directly funded by Brussels. Under the umbrella of the new Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), the European Commission has selected 47 "strategic" projects, three of which are in Romania – for graphite, copper, and magnesium – with a total funding of 615 million euros.

In parallel, the government in Bucharest has adopted an emergency ordinance that creates the national framework for implementing the CRMA, including a "one-stop shop" for administrative procedures for extraction, processing, and recycling of critical raw materials. The political message is clear: Romania wants to re-enter the game as a resource supplier for the European industry – not just as a market for sales or a reservoir of cheap labor.

What are "rare minerals" and why do they matter: the vitamin of modern industry

REE, or "rare minerals" mentioned in public debate, are actually rare earth elements – a group of 17 metals, from lanthanum, cerium, and neodymium to yttrium, gadolinium, or lutetium, plus scandium. They are relatively widespread in the Earth's crust, but are rarely found in sufficiently large concentrations to be profitably exploited, and their processing is complicated and polluting.

The economic importance far exceeds the physical volume: neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium are essential for permanent magnets in electric machines and wind turbines; europium, terbium, and yttrium provide brightness and color to screens and LED panels; gadolinium and yttrium are used in medical imaging, lasers, and military equipment. Without these industrial "vitamins", the energy transition, 5G infrastructures, modern defense, and the entire consumer electronics sector would look completely different.

Who controls the game today: China, the USA, Australia, and the rest of the world

Globally, rare earth production is clearly dominated by China, which accounts for about two-thirds of ore production and over 80% of refining and separation capacity. The United States (Mountain Pass mine), Australia (Mount Weld and others), Myanmar, India, Russia, and a few African countries are trying to reduce dependence on Beijing, but processing chains remain deeply asymmetric.

On this map, Romania does not count through exploited rare earth deposits, but through geological potential, its position in the EU, and integration projects in processing chains. This is where both Brussels' interest and the emergence of specialized investors in critical minerals come from, who see Romania as a future processing hub for Central and Eastern Europe.

Romania and rare earths: geological potential, but without operational mines

Official strategies and specialized studies indicate that Romania has rare earth mineralizations, especially associated with other ores (copper, titanium, zirconium), including in alluvial sands and waste heaps. The "National Strategy for Non-Energetic Mineral Resources 2023–2035" explicitly mentions REE mineralizations and the opportunity to recover critical metals (gallium, antimony, bismuth, etc.) as by-products of polymetallic mining.

However, the reality on the ground is that Romania currently does not have a commercially exploited rare earth mine, nor an industrial capacity to separate these elements comparable to what exists in China, the USA, or Australia. In the message to the European Commission, the authorities in Bucharest emphasize, in turn, that the country has access to "other types of metals – including titanium, boron, quartz, phosphorus, germanium, tungsten, gallium, and rare earth elements" and requests funding for geological mapping, exploration, and possible future projects.

Romanian industries that need these resources

Even though it does not exploit REE, Romania is already consuming "incorporated" rare earths in imported technology.

Automotive and auto components

Romania is integrated into European automotive production chains, from wiring and electronic systems to components for electric and hybrid vehicles – an industrial complex that depends on permanent magnets, sensors, and catalysts containing rare earths.

Energy and equipment for the green transition

Wind turbines, energy conversion systems, high-efficiency transformers, and smart grids use magnets and magnetic materials based on REE, even if they are integrated into imported equipment.

Telecom, IT, and data centers

5G infrastructure, fiber optic networks, servers, and networking equipment use lasers, amplifiers, and optoelectronic components doped with rare earths. Romania, as a regional IT service hub, thus indirectly depends on global REE supply chains.

Defense industry

Military modernization programs – from radars and communication systems to aircraft, drones, and armored vehicles – involve the import of technologies with magnets and sensors based on rare earths.

Health and high-tech medical

MRI machines, radiotherapy equipment, medical lasers, and certain types of advanced diagnostics use gadolinium, yttrium, neodymium, and other rare elements.

The simple conclusion: Romania is dependent on rare earths, even if the dependence is seen in the technology import bill, not in the raw materials balance.

The map of EU projects in Romania

Rovina – copper and gold (Hunedoara)

Promoter: Euro Sun Mining (Canada).

Status: strategic project selected by the European Commission under the CRMA; estimated investment of about 300 million euros.

Objective: extraction and refining of copper (approximately 20,000 tons of concentrate annually), plus gold, to reduce Romania's and, partially, the EU's dependence on copper imports from outside the bloc.

The graphite project – Gorj

Promoter: Salrom (state company).

Investment: approximately 200 million euros, with an estimated production of 15,000 tons of graphite per year.

Relevance: graphite is essential for electric vehicle batteries, energy storage systems, and the electronics industry – a critical material for the EU's climate goals.

Magnesium – Budureasa (Bihor)

Promoter: Verde Magnesium, supported by the American fund Amerocap.

Investment: in the CRMA stage, 115 million euros, with long-term plans of up to 1 billion dollars for a magnesium mine and plant.

Stakes: magnesium is essential for lightweight alloys in automotive, aerospace, and defense, where the EU is dependent on imports from China.

Rare earth processing platform – Feldioara (Brașov)

Actors: partnership between Critical Metals (UK) and the Romanian company FPCU, based on the Tanbreez project in Greenland.

Goal: establishing a processing plant for rare earths, which will process approximately 50% of the production of the largest heavy REE deposit in the world (Greenland), with state-of-the-art technology.

Graphite, copper, magnesium – the "triangle" through which the EU rediscovers Romania

Although everyone is talking about rare earths, the first major projects selected by Brussels in Romania do not target REE, but graphite, copper, and magnesium.

The graphite from Gorj is directly linked to batteries for electric cars and energy storage – one of Europe's most vulnerable points in competition with China and the USA.

The copper from Rovina is vital for electrification, networks, cables, electric motors – without copper, there is no infrastructure for the green and digital transition.

The magnesium from Budureasa can fuel a European lightweight alloys industry, at a time when the EU is massively dependent on Chinese suppliers for this metal.

Symbolically, the rare earth processing project at Feldioara – linked to the Tanbreez deposit in Greenland – would mark Romania's entry not just as an ore supplier, but as an industrial link in the REE value chain at the European level. It would be a radical change from the classic model after 1990, when Romania exported cheap ore or semi-finished products and imported high-end technology at a high price.

Romania's chances and risks in the "rare earth war"

For Romania, the geoeconomics of rare earths and critical raw materials is a double-edged sword.

On one hand, the CRMA, European funds, and the interest of specialized investors create a historic window of opportunity: the reconstruction of a modern mining sector, with high environmental standards, not just to export ore, but to produce metal, alloys, and components integrated into European industrial chains. On the other hand, the experience of past failures – from controversial gold mining projects to failed privatizations – fuels public suspicion and the risk of social and political blockage.

Moreover, any delay in implementing the CRMA framework, in strengthening administrative capacity, or in negotiating value-sharing contracts with investors will push Romania into the role of a "resource colony", not an industrial hub. And while Bucharest struggles with its own bureaucratic reflexes, global competition for rare earths and critical metals is accelerating, and the window through which Romania can become an actor, not just a margin on the map, will inevitably close.

Analysis conducted with the support of Perplexity