Analiza możliwości pozyskiwania strategicznych surowców mineralnych

In 2008 Committee on Critical Mineral Impacts of the U.S. Economy, presented a definition of strategic raw materials, which was also adopted by the countries of the European Union. A group of strategic raw materials includes 12 minerals/materials with a very critical economic importance and specific conditions related to the criticality and risk of shortage of supply. The risk of the shortage of supply is mainly due to a limited number of sources of origin. These are: rhenium, tellurium, iron, aluminum, bauxite, magnesite, molybdenum, manganese, vanadium, zinc, nickel and chromium. The attention is put on the raw materials used in large quantities in the key industries (iron, aluminum) and the strategic raw materials which include among others: traditional ingredients of alloy steel (vanadium, chromium, manganese, molybdenum). The above list of 12 strategic raw materials is a proposal, which can be modified as a result of the reduction of strategic raw materials resources in European countries. The strategic raw materials are found in temperate locations in the world and have few substitutes. The analysis of the literature on identified technologies has showed that the most recognizable way to enrich the specific raw materials is by processing their ores, which are the carriers of many metals. The ore is processed to improve their chemical composition, to standardize their chemical and physico-chemical properties, to ensure the appropriate sizes of the ore pieces. Since the mined ores are mostly not suitable for direct processing, an important process is multi-enrichment. The enrichment of ores can be divided into: mechanical and chemical enrichment. The process of ore processing was applied to the following materials: rhenium, iron, molybdenum, manganese, vanadium, zinc, nickel and chromium. A comprehensive assessment of mineral potential of the European Union countries and the so-called identification of strategic raw materials a priority of the EU raw materials policy.