FT pointed to the growing separation of the US from the EU in the field of mining
The European Union (EU) risks falling further behind the United States in the fight for critically important minerals. This was reported on August 22 by the Financial Times (FT) newspaper, citing European officials and industry representatives.
"I really admire the Americans: they take an idea and implement it, whereas we Europeans are slow, overly administer, talk and waste time," the newspaper quoted one of the European officials as saying.
Since 2022, the United States has announced about $40 billion in pre-financing of mineral projects and acquired stakes in a number of mining companies.
Over the past 18 months, the European Union has selected dozens of strategic projects for accelerated permits, and the EU and the bloc countries have allocated about €6 billion for projects in 2026. At the same time, the industry considers the pace insufficient.
In the summer of 2025, the Pentagon invested $400 million in MP Materials, receiving 15% of the company, and provided it with a loan of $150 million. There is also a 10-year agreement with a minimum price of $110 per kg of neodymium-praseodymium.
In February, the European Court of Auditors said that many of the 75 strategic projects are likely not to be implemented on time to meet EU targets by 2030. An industry representative called the financial support for the block "generally very disappointing."
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed a framework memorandum on the extraction and processing of critical minerals and rare earth metals at a meeting in Yerevan on May 26. In addition, the parties signed agreements to ensure the supply, extraction and processing of rare earths, as well as a framework agreement on strategic cooperation within the framework of the Trump's Path for International Prosperity project.
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