Mineral resources and responsible supply

In brief

Urban mine platform now live

As a partner in the European FutuRaM project, BRGM has developed a new version of the urban mining portal (www.urbanmineplatform.eu). The platform is accessible to the public, and users can get a detailed overview of the availability and recyclability of secondary and critical raw materials found in seven waste streams in the European Union, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Data on batteries, vehicles, wind turbines, electrical and electronic equipment, construction products, mining waste, plus slag and ash were derived from detailed research, and include basic mineral compositions, stocks, and current and future flow predictions based on three pathways to 2050.

Trends in waste electrical and electronic equipment in France. © FutuRaM

LITHOS - Promoting responsible lithium production in Europe

In 2025, BRGM conducted a large-scale experiment at its Plat’inn testing platform as part of the LITHOS project. The aims of this European project were to fully realise the potential of Europe’s hard-rock lithium deposits and develop sustainable and responsible processing methods. A test rig was set up to produce several hundred kilograms of spodumene concentrate from three tonnes of ore. The plan is for the project partners to then use this concentrate to develop an innovative lithium extraction process, which can be adapted to suit the processing of concentrates containing other lithium-bearing minerals.

Plat’inn is a testing platform for conducting pilot operations in mineral processing, hydrometallurgy and biohydrometallurgy. In June 2025, it was made available for the LITHOS project. © brgm

OFREMI - Recommendations for a copper strategy

How can we ensure that end users have a continuous supply of copper going forward? Ofremi (French Observatory of Mineral Resources for Industrial Sectors), an entity coordinated by BRGM, has formulated France’s copper strategy in collaboration with relevant public and private stakeholders. This strategy consolidates the country’s short-, medium- and long-term vision into a concrete action plan to guide policy-makers and industry leaders. The report published in 2025 provides four key recommendations: structuring the French copper industry around a dedicated entity; securing the primary copper supply for French manufacturers; improving copper recycling and recycled copper use in France; and promoting and improving resource efficiency and diversification.

A summary of the national strategy for copper, developed by Ofremi in collaboration with relevant French stakeholders, is available on the ofremi.fr website. © OFREMI

UNDERCOVER - Transforming mining exploration

The Horizon Europe UNDERCOVER project was launched in 2025 to develop non-invasive, environmentally friendly exploration methods for identifying untapped deep mineral resources. Bringing together 16 scientific, academic and industrial partners from across Europe, this project stands as a strategic building block for securing EU control over its mineral resources. A partner in this consortium, BRGM is working on implementing innovative geophysics based on next-generation electromagnetic and seismic data acquisition and intelligent data integration using AI.

PUBLICATIONS - Reliable data for life cycle assessments

In 2025, BRGM partnered with 34 international co-authors to publish a leading article on metal and mineral life cycle assessments (LCAs) in the journal Resources, Conservation and Recycling. This study provides access to datasets developed from publicly available life cycle inventories (LCIs) through extensive data processing. The work involved developing 220 high-quality LCI datasets, covering 53 metals and minerals and including 163 different production pathways. These datasets are provided with open access to support supply chain modelling for different metals and minerals and to help improve LCA quality.

CRITICALITY - Refining assessments by metal form

Ofremi (French Observatory of Mineral Resources for Industrial Sectors), an observatory coordinated by BRGM, has developed a methodology for evaluating the criticality of a substance at any given time by combining three dimensions: probability of supply disruption, national or global system vulnerability to disruption, and system resilience to disruption. Since 2025, this methodology can be applied to different forms of individual metals (e.g. ore and refined metal) depending on data use needs and availability, as the criticality of each form may vary. Last year, the criticality of six materials was reassessed as a result: platinum group metals, zinc, cobalt, vanadium, tantalum and synthetic graphite.

2025 assessment of the criticality of mined (top) and refined (bottom) cobalt. © OFREMI

* French Observatory of Mineral Resources for Industrial Sectors.

URBAN MINE - Applied research for Sovamep

BRGM has signed a four-year R&D contract with Sovamep under the collaborative research tax credit (CICo) scheme. This collaborative effort is part of the Motris project on modernising the processing and innovative recycling of critical and strategic metals, in which CNRS and CEA are also partners. BRGM’s work will involve designing and implementing sampling methodologies to reduce uncertainties in determining metal concentrations in titanium turnings mainly from the aerospace industry, and from used electronic circuit boards – two of the waste streams processed by Sovamep.