Mining and Rare Materials

www.larutadelamineria.com

Mining in Andalusia

The new era we now live in demands exponential mineral extraction, especially the so-called "rare" minerals, for the technological and digital advancement to which the world's governments and their arms races are subjecting us.

The push for digitalization in our daily lives, in all our actions and consumption, constitutes an incalculable and unimaginable use of water and electricity, which will lead to the loss of biodiversity on planet Earth and, with it, humans.

The "tokenization" of natural resources is being carried out through investment funds, which lack a homeland, nation, or ethical code, and are dedicated to taking stock of the planet to satisfy their own agendas.

Rare minerals, like other resources, are LIMITED on Earth. Hence, as essential elements in the manufacture of chips and data centers, the market has opened up.

a runaway race to exploit and "possess" it.

But mining also involves a high level of water consumption, which is in addition to the concessions already being requested by oil companies, electricity companies, etc., in Andalusia (and the rest of the world).

For this reason, we have also created "The Mining Route," an interactive tool that allows you to access new concessions that are continually being published in the BOJA and the BOE.

Download this map here:

Minerales Raros Andalucía.pdf

The approval and dissemination by the Andalusian Regional Government of a "critical minerals map" entails the determination and public dissemination of a list of the territory's potential (in its development jargon) that automatically becomes a call to private investors to carry out highly beneficial extractive projects with an extractive logic based on a supposed valorization of resources that they consider uncultivated and marginal in order to extract the greatest economic value from them, following a curve that will sooner or later end with their decline and abandonment, leaving the territories more depleted, impoverished and empty.

It is the critical way in which many rural areas of Spain have been emptied, time and again throughout its history.

The Andalusian Regional Government barely adds this map to a Strategy for Sustainable Mining in Andalusia 2030, a document already lacking in the language used specifically: sustainable.

What should be expected, more than a map and a strategy without content, is a Plan where, in a participatory manner, especially from all the instances of the affected territories (see for example on the map the area of northern Córdoba, a paradise free of neighbors ready for the extractive practice once again), the technical conditions, locations, conditions and environmental limits, effects, impact assessments, conflicts with other rural development initiatives in progress, relations with the local municipalities affected, aspects among others, to which any intervention or project to be considered should adhere.

In May 2024, our colleagues from Mallorca invited us to the "Quina transició energètica volem?" conference to discuss macro-renewables in the region.

We participate alongside Alicia Valero, a Spanish chemical engineer specializing in the exergy of the Earth's mineral capital, who invites us in the following video to understand the limits of the planet, the condition of rare minerals, and their uses.

Alicia Valero with the Río Grande Natural Valley Association in Brussels, November 2022

In this second part, the Río Grande Natural Valley Association shares data on the Ruta de la Placa and explains the connection between large-scale renewable energy projects, outrageous water consumption, and data centers.