Minerals & Their Uses
Europe is rich in natural resources and the extraction and supply of minerals continue to play a crucial role in the European economy and society, as it has done for thousands of years. Minerals are used in every-day life, such as for construction aggregates (crushed rock, sand and gravel) for infrastructure, buildings, and transportation networks, as well as for industrial purposes (for example, metals, lime, kaolin, silica sand, talc) in the production of steel, cars, computers, medicines, human and animal foodstuffs, and fertilisers, to name but a few. To a large extent, demand for the wide range of minerals produced in the EU is strongly influenced by the business cycle of downstream sectors, such as the construction and steel-making sectors. In this respect, the industry differs from many other forms of manufacturing.
The non-energy extractive industry in Europe, that is excluding minerals used for fuel, is usually divided into construction aggregates, lime, industrial minerals, gypsum and metallic minerals. The total annual turnover of these sectors in the EU is about €30 billion and direct employment in the EU sectors is estimated to be around 190,000 people. More than 70,000 people are estimated to be employed in the industry in the EU enlargement countries. It is estimated that the indirect employment provided by the industry is up to 4 times the number directly employed.
The sectors are characterised by their exceptional diversity.
The European construction aggregates sector is by far the largest in terms of tonnage and sales revenue. It consists of a wide range of companies with over 20,000 sites producing around 2.6 billion tonnes of aggregates a year for the construction of homes, schools, hospitals, roads, airports and flood defence. It also provides the raw material used in the manufacture of other vital construction products such as ready-mixed concrete, asphalt, lime and cement. There is also a number of multinational aggregates companies, which supply more distant markets. Substantial amounts of aggregates are also extracted from the seabed. In general, the widespread distribution of aggregates resources, and the relatively low price of the product, means that transport costs significantly influence the marketability of these products. EU production in this sector meets over 20% of global demand.
More information about the European construction aggregates sector can be found on the European Aggregates Association (UEPG) website.
The European lime sector produces lime for the purification of gases and household refuse; as a sanitisation and conditioning agent for water and sludge treatment; and for soil protection, neutralisation and fertility improvement in agriculture. In addition it is used for human food and animal feed additives, sugar and healthcare, as well as a mineral additive for the manufacture of paper, paints and dyes, carpeting and other floor covering. It is also employed as flux in steel and non-ferrous metals processing; as a material for the construction of bricks, mortar and concrete; and as a raw material for glass. Another use of lime is for the stabilisation of soils before the construction of roads and dams, as well as for industrial and farming wastes.
More information about the European lime sector can be found on the European Lime Association (EuLA) website.
The European industrial minerals sector is mainly composed of small and medium-sized enterprises, but also includes some of the world’s leading international companies. In Europe, the sector employs about 40,000 people and processes an annual volume of some 80 million tonnes of industrial minerals, contributing a value of around €10 billion to Europe's GPD. The sector provides a wide range of minerals which can be classified as either ‘physical’ minerals, that is, minerals valued for their physical properties, for example calcium carbonates, diatomite, kaolin, plastic clays, bentonite, feldspar, silica, and talc or ‘chemical’ minerals, that is minerals valued for their chemical properties, such as borates. As regards their field of application, industrial minerals are essential raw materials in most industrial activities. They are used in a wide range of industries such as paint, electronics, metal casting and foundry, paper, plastics, glass, ceramics, detergents, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, construction materials and agriculture, etc. They are also used as processing aids for the food and feed industries and are increasingly important in environmental engineering (waste and flue gas treatment, water purification, etc.). All these applications require different quality grades. Processing of the minerals before sale can be relatively simple (mainly crushing, grinding and classifying), but may also be more sophisticated for some mineral types (e.g. mineral sorting by flotation, laser optics, magnetic separation, or calcinations). In response to customer demands, the sector continuously researches innovative solutions that may lead to new product developments (e.g. borates in hydrogen fuel cell technology, silica in LCD screens and the high speed train technology, etc).
More information about the European industrial minerals sector can be found on the website of the European Industrial Minerals Association (IMA-Europe).
The European gypsum sector is one of the few fully integrated industries within the construction products field. The companies which mine gypsum also process it and manufacture the value-added products and systems used extensively in construction and other industries. Over 80% of all interior surfaces in European housing are either made from or lined with gypsum-based products. Furthermore, offices, shops, and public buildings of all kinds make substantial use of gypsum products, chosen by specifiers and architects for their excellent performance in acoustic and thermal insulation, fire protection and interior design and decoration. Plasterboard, gypsum blocks and tiles, gypsum plasters and self-levelling floor screeds are products essential to all kinds of buildings. Gypsum is also an essential ingredient in cement production where it is used as a retarding agent. Finally, the many uses of gypsum outside the construction industry must not be forgotten. For example, it is used in the making of ceramic moulds and surgical and dental casts, as a water conditioner for beer-brewing and sugar-refining, as ingredients in flour, bread, ice-cream and pet food and as an agent in pharmaceutical products.
More information about the European gypsum industry can be found on the Eurogypsum website.
The European metal mining sector is composed of around 250 enterprises, which include some of the major multinational mining companies, which have their headquarters located in Europe. European companies compete in a global market and the majority of metallic ores are imported to supply the demand of the European metal industries. The European metal mining sector accounts for some 3% of world production, located in many but not all of the EU-15 countries, particularly in some of the more Northern countries, such as Sweden and Finland and the Southern countries of Greece, Spain and Portugal. New mines continue to be developed, and provide employment and economic growth in regions, which would otherwise have difficulty in attracting other investment. Since metals, their ores and concentrates are traded on international markets, European metal mines face strong competition from large-scale, high-grade overseas operations capable of producing metal ores and concentrates under low cost competitive conditions. The EU sector has made substantial efforts to reduce operational cost levels through rationalisation, innovations and increasing capital intensity.
More information about the European minerals mining sector can be found on the Euromines website.
