Bulgaria has mineral resources and plans research funding for critical materials, while other EU nations possess various strategic minerals.
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Bulgaria produces bentonite, perlite, cerium, cadmium, fluorite, kaolin, and silica sand, with global production shares of 0.3% for gold and 0.2% for silver. Previously extracting manganese, Bulgaria’s activity ceased; the reduction in EU manganese supply due to cessation in Hungary has increased imports from South Africa and Gabon. In July 2024, the Bulgarian government announced €4.25 million to support research on critical raw materials needed by key European industries like automotive, steel, aerospace, IT, healthcare, and renewable energy by 2029, requiring collaboration with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Despite initial projects being due in 2024, procedures for collecting research proposals on green transition materials such as boron, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, lithium, magnesium, manganese, graphite, nickel, and others have not yet begun, leaving uncertainty about unused funds. Other European countries possess various critical minerals: Spain has Fluorite, metallic silicon, Tungsten, and Vanadium; Portugal has Tungsten; the UK has Barite, armaments coal, fluorite, and vanadium; Belgium has Vanadium and Indium; the Netherlands has Vanadium; Germany has Barite, coal, Gallium, Graphite, metallic Silicon, and Vanadium; Finland has potential for Cobalt and Germanium; Poland and the Czech Republic have Carbon and Vanadium; Austria has Tungsten, Graphite, and Vanadium; Hungary has Gallium; and Bulgaria has Bismuth.
