Strategic metals for a sustainable future

Strategic metals are raw materials that play a key role in industry and are essential for economic and technological development, and their recovery is critical to the future of the economy.

The dynamically developing recycling industry responds to the challenges of growing demand for raw materials, the need to protect the environment, and the need to combat climate change. It plays a key role in promoting a circular economy, reducing dependence on primary raw materials and limiting greenhouse gas emissions through more efficient use of resources in the economy.

Our metals

Lithium

Lithium

Lithium is a soft, silver-white alkali metal that is the lightest solid element under standard conditions.

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Cobalt

Cobalt

Cobalt, like nickel, occurs in the Earth’s crust only in chemically combined form, with the exception of small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoritic iron.

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Nickel

Nickel

Nickel is a silvery-white, shiny metal with a delicate golden hue. It belongs to the transition metals, it is hard and ductile.

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Copper

Copper

Copper is a soft, malleable and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity.

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Rhodium

Rhodium

Rhodium is a silver-white, hard, corrosion-resistant and chemically inert transition metal.

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Palladium

Palladium

Palladium is a rare metal, it is shiny and silvery white. It belongs to the platinum group. 

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Silver

Silver

Silver is a soft, white, shiny transition metal that has the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and light reflectivity of all metals.

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Platinum

Platinum

Platinum is a dense, malleable and highly non-reactive metal with a silvery-white appearance.

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Gold

Gold

Gold is one of the least reactive chemical elements. It is often found in a series of solid solutions from native silver, naturally alloyed with other metals such as copper and palladium, or as mineral inclusions.

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Critical raw materials

The European Commission has established a list of critical raw materials (CRM) to ensure the European economy has access to them.

According to forecasts, by 2040 the demand for copper will increase by 50%

Growing demand in the clean energy sector is increasing the need for key resources

For lithium, a nine-fold increase is estimated by 2040

Demand for nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements will double over the next two decades

Source: International Energy Agency, Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2024

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LITHIUM

Lithium is an alkali metal which, under standard conditions, is the lightest solid element on Earth. Its name is derived from the Greek “lithos”, meaning stone. It is highly reactive and flammable, and must be stored in a vacuum and inert atmosphere. The mineral is white to grey but, when thrown into fire, it flares bright crimson. It is so soft that it can be cut with a kitchen knife, and so low in density that it floats on water. It is also solid at a wide range of temperatures, with one of the lowest melting and highest boiling points of all metals.

COBALT

Cobalt is a silvery-blue transition metal. In the form of a free element, it is hard and lustrous. Its name is derived from the German term “Kobald”, meaning goblin or evil spirit. That is because the original smelting process gave off poisonous arsenic-containing fumes. Cobalt-based pigments have been used since ancient times for jewellery and paints, as well as to impart a distinctive blue tint to glass. However, it was not until 1735 when a Swedish chemist, Georg Brandt, isolated cobalt making it the first metal with a recorded discoverer.

NICKEL

Nickel is a hard and ductile metal which is silvery-white in colour with a slight golden tinge. It belongs to the group of transition metals. A good conductor of electricity and heat, it is one of only four elements – together with cobalt, iron and gadolinium – that are ferromagnetic, which means they are magnetised easily at room temperature. Nickel is resistant to corrosion even at high temperatures. Its name is derived from the German “Kupfernickel”, meaning “copper spirit”, as it was copper that people first tried to extract from the mineral.

COPPER

Copper is a soft, malleable and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. It is the only metal, aside from gold, whose colouring isn't naturally silver or grey (its freshly exposed surface is pinkish-orange). It is also one of the few native metals, which means it can occur in nature in a directly usable metallic form. Humans have used copper for at least 8,000 years and learnt how to smelt the metal by about 4,500 B.C. The Latin name “cuprum” is derived from “aes Cyprium” – metal of Cyprus, where it was mined in the Roman era.

RHODIUM

Rhodium is a hard, silvery-white element, one of the six platinum group metals. It is classified as a noble metal, meaning that it does not react to oxygen easily, acts as a good catalyst and is resistant to corrosion and oxidation. Due to a high melting point, rhodium is unaffected by air and water up to 600 degrees Celsius. With only one naturally occurring isotope, it is considered the world’s rarest and most valuable precious metal. The name rhodium comes from the Greek word “rhodon”, meaning rose (named for the rose-red colour of its salts).

PALLADIUM

Palladium is a rare metal which is lustrous and silvery-white. Palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium form a group of elements referred to as the platinum group metals (PGMs). They are all excellent catalysts and share important chemical properties, but palladium has the lowest melting point and is the least dense of them. Palladium was discovered in 1803 by an English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after Pallas – an asteroid which had just been discovered in 1802 and the ancient Greek goddess Pallas Athena.

SILVER

Silver is a soft, white and lustrous metal with the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity and reflectivity among all metals. It tarnishes slowly in air as sulphur compounds react with the surface forming black silver sulphide. As one of the seven metals of antiquity, silver has had an enduring role in most human cultures. It has been widely mined and refined since prehistoric times in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. Its Latin name “Argentum” was derived from the Proto-Indo-European word for “shining” or “white”.

PLATINUM

Platinum is a dense, malleable and highly unreactive metal with a silverish-white appearance. A member of the platinum group of metals, it has remarkable resistance to corrosion, even at high temperatures, and is therefore considered a noble metal. In ancient times, people from Egypt and the Americas would often mix it with gold for jewellery or decoration. It was first referred to in the 1550s by Julius Scaliger, an Italian physician, who described a new metal from Central America that wouldn’t melt and called it “little silver” (“platina” in Spanish).

GOLD

Gold is an orange-yellow transition metal characterized by its brightness and softness. At standard conditions, it exists as a solid and is recognized as one of the least reactive chemical elements. Furthermore, gold is noted for being the most malleable and ductile of all metals. Due to its rarity and intrinsic value, gold has served various purposes, including its use in coins, jewelry, and art, for centuries. The gold standard functioned as the basis for monetary policy until its discontinuation in the 1970s.