The Altmark gas field in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, Europe’s second-largest onshore gas field, hosts a lithium-rich deep formation brine previously investigated during the 1970s and 1980s. A first Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) pilot plant was constructed during the late GDR period but never commercialized due to political and market shifts.

With the increasing urgency to develop domestic sources of critical raw materials under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), the redevelopment of this historic resource has resumed. The brine reservoir, hosted in the Permian Rotliegend formations, holds average lithium concentrations of >400 mg/l, with peak values of up to 600 mg/l. The estimated in-place resource of 40–50 million tonnes LCE could support sustained production of up to 25 ktpa over multiple decades.

Following renewed exploration and permitting, Germany’s first lithium-from-brine production license was granted in early 2024. Recent pilot tests using ion exchange DLE technology have successfully produced battery-grade lithium carbonate from brine co-produced during gas extraction. A feasibility study is underway, demonstrator production targeted for 2027/28 and early commercial operations by 2029/2030.

Altmark Lithium Extraction demonstrates how legacy hydrocarbon assets can contribute to Europe's raw material security. The project integrates decades of subsurface data with current UNFC-aligned classification efforts to ensure transparent and traceable resource reporting in line with emerging CRMA implementation frameworks.

The first round of the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) has concluded, and Germany is wondering why so few projects from the Federal Republic made it onto the CRMA list. If we aim to achieve greater independence from foreign-sourced raw materials, it is essential to have a precise inventory of our domestic resources and to actively promote them within industry. Critical raw materials—such as lithium, rare earth elements, cobalt and semiconductor-grade silicon—are the backbone of Germany’s advanced manufacturing sectors (including automotive, renewable energy, electronics and defense). They are indispensable for meeting our climate targets, sustaining high-tech production and maintaining global competitiveness.

Furthermore, the state mining authorities (Oberbergämter) must be staffed with sufficient personnel to evaluate and approve German projects within the prescribed timeframe. At present, approvals still take decades; the CRMA, however, mandates that permitting procedures be completed within 27 months.

We must also raise public awareness about raw materials and their origin, rebuilding social acceptance of domestic mining within civil society. At the same time, we need to encourage the next generation to enter the mining industry and make careers as mining engineers or resource geologists attractive again. Resource consciousness begins in school and should be fostered there and in the media.

Only with a positive attitude towards our domestic raw materials, responsible mining under the highest standards of nature protection and social considerations as well as aceptance, can we create transparent supply chains within Germany and Europe.

The Suwałki Anorthosite Massif in northeastern Poland contains deep-seated Fe-Ti-V mineralisation associated with anorthosite-related mafic intrusions—resources deemed critical by the European Union. Hidden beneath ~800 metres of sedimentary cover, these deposits require advanced exploration techniques. This study applies knowledge-driven fuzzy inference systems (FIS), a symbolic AI method that integrates expert geological knowledge into computer models, to predict mineral potential using geospatial datasets.

FIS uses fuzzy logic to define key mineralisation indicators, such as magnetic and gravity anomalies and structural features, based on a mineral systems model. This model outlines three critical components for Fe-Ti-V mineralisation: mantle or lower-crust-derived magmas or mushes in post-collisional extensional settings, deep crustal faults as magma conduits, and structurally controlled traps that enable magma differentiation and oxide enrichment. GIS-based predictor maps are generated and combined using logical if-then inferencing rules to produce a continuous prospectivity map.

Due to the depth of mineralisation, limited data availability presents a challenge. Innovative data engineering techniques were used to extract meaningful features from available geophysical datasets, including nationwide magnetic and gravity data and a 3D p-wave seismic velocity model. From these, key features such as deep magma sources, structural conduits, and intrusive bodies were identified. The resulting FIS-based prospectivity map highlights unexplored areas with high potential, supporting future mineral exploration in the Suwałki region by guiding future exploration strategies.

Metallic and mineral raw materials demand is expected to significantly increase globally due to transition towards low carbon technologies and population growth. To meet its carbon emission reduction targets (net zero by 2045), the German Government aims to further expand technologies such as wind energy and electric vehicles, increasing the need for critical raw materials, including rare earth elements (REE). For that, the German Government aims to increase the amount of EVs on its roads from 1 million in 2021 to 15 million in 2030. Furthermore, it aims to increase onshore wind energy capacity from 56 GW to 115 GW and offshore capacity from 7 GW to 30 GW between 2020 and 2030. In order to achieve the goals, investments in REE mining and processing should be supported, along with the research on recycling and substitution. Since Germany and the EU27 rely on imports from countries with high market concentration, a resilient and sustainable REE supply is essential to avoid supply disruptions.

This study examines company announcements to assess whether the CRMA benchmarks are feasible for REE mining. We use the uncertainty of raw material projections to estimate the reasonability of CRMA to achieve 10% REE from mining in EU27 by 2030. Our results indicate that the achievement of the CRMA benchmark w.r.t. REE mined from EU27 deposits is not feasible in the given timeframe, but expected demand may be covered at a later stage if assumed results from scoping studies would turn out to become reserves.

Our research evaluates and optimizes using plants as a geochemical sampling medium, aiming to enhance its applicability and effectiveness in European geological surveys. We share our experience in applying this low-impact, fast, and cost-effective exploration tool gained as part of the EU-funded project SEMACRET, which focused on sustainable exploration for orthomagmatic deposits in Europe.

Biogeochemical exploration has proven particularly valuable in areas with limited geological information, such as those with unknown lithologies, coarse geological maps, and blind deposits. By conducting surveys in typical European settings (from Portugal via Central Europe to Finland), we've gained insights into the effectiveness of biogeochemical exploration in a variety of contexts, including temperate and boreal forests where remote sensing capabilities are limited due to extensive sediment and/or vegetation cover as well as areas with monoculture agriculture. Our work demonstrates how biogeochemical exploration can complement standard geological mapping techniques, providing valuable information for national exploration programs while promoting environmentally and socially responsible practices in domestic exploration.

Societal needs, as well as trade distortions and political paradigm shifts, increasingly emphasize the need to ensure greater resilience in access to and supply of raw materials in Europe. The Critical Raw Materials Act is one-step in this direction. Actions and actors must flesh out the legal framework. In the geosciences, this requires a variety of actors and public and private sector actions to create the basis for fundamental information. The high investment required to develop a discovery into a deposit through to a mine must be underpinned by high quality and available technical data. From universities to exploration companies, from geological monitoring organizations to mining companies, all have important roles to play in developing reliable and ecologically and environmentally sustainable solutions. Insights are derived from specific case studies and used to develop viable solutions. In order to improve the availability of raw materials in Europe in a timely manner, the national exploration programs in the first cycle will focus on selected areas with high potential for selected raw materials. Exploration campaigns can then concentrate on the most promising areas. By concentrating on potential development areas and providing easily understandable, comprehensive reports (e.g. according to PERC and UNFC), the application process for development and approval for operation can also be improved.