The miracle metal from Romania’s underground that can save Europe from dependence on China is played for 1 billion dollars, in an old mine in Bihor

The decommissioned magnesium mine from Budureasa, in Bihor county, will be reopened, after the company Verde Magnesium, part of the American investment fund Amerocap, announced that it is investing one billion dollars, as the Financial Times wrote.

Reducing the European Union’s dependence on imports of critical raw materials from China is crucial, many European officials have stressed. Magnesium is one of these resources, writes the Panorama website, which maps the possible role of Romania in this provision of important raw materials.

It is about the Budureasca mine, 100 kilometers from Oradea, on the border of Bihor with Cluj county. Budureasca is an old exploitation, in the north of the Apuseni Natural Park.

The Chinese are currently world leaders in magnesium production, and the EU imports almost everything it needs from China.

The European Union’s decision to reopen the decommissioned mine at Budureasa, near Oradea, represents a plan from which Brussels has high hopes. However, there will be some differences at the level of this production compared to the Chinese one: it will be based on renewable energy and will also deal with aluminum recycling.

“The European industrial sector is in dire need of a reliable source of critical and strategic metals, especially those with a lower carbon footprint, that can support Europe’s transition to a carbon-neutral economy “, said Bernd Martens, director of Verde Magnesium, in the same Financial Times material.

The Budureasa mine was closed in 2014, being at that time the last magnesium exploitation in Europe. In the past, it had ended up in the hands of criminal businessmen Sorin Ovidiu Vîntu and Liviu Luca. Now, the EU’s plans for it are big.

Production would start no later than 2027 and reach a capacity of 90,000 tonnes per year, which is half of the EU reserve and 9% of global production.

You can read the full context of the battle for magnesium in Panorama.