Mining in Europe needs makeover (by Chris Cann)

There is more “joined-up thinking” on the agenda in Brussels that should better target the practical issues miners are facing in Europe, according to president of industry lobby group, Euromines, Mark Rachovides.

Addressing a direct question on why the vast amounts of European Commission cash thrown at European extractive industry advancement had failed to facilitate more development, he told the opening Mines and Money London panel session that politicians today had a “greater understanding of the issues”.

Having cited several of the extensive programmes executed by the EC already, which have essentially been a broad and intensive data gathering exercise, Rachovides said money had more recently been pointed at issues such as permitting bottlenecks and a more uniform approach to appropriate development in protected areas across Europe.

“European industry is shrinking, not growing,” Rachovides said. “The whole concept that underlies Horizon 2020 is to reinvent industry in Europe – to give it a good dose of CPR – but without raw materials delivery, we can’t do that.”

Though things had been moving slowly, they had at least been moving, according to Beata Staszkow from major Poland-based copper producer, KGHM (GR:KGHA). She said the environmental frameworks within Europe were the best in the world, though this was often overlooked by some who continued to focus on past indiscretions.

“There was a lot of bad publicity from politicians during a time when it was politically correct to undermine the value of the industry,” Staszkow said. (more…)