Alkaline magmatism and REE resources: a European overview, and links to Canada

In recent years, the European Union (EU) has prioritised the issue of critical raw materialsa – those materials which are important for the economy, but have risks to their supply. Of the materials identified as critical, the rare earth elements (REE) are considered to have the highest supply risks, since > 90% of global production comes from China. Several programmes are underway in Europe to investigate the supply chain for the REE and other critical materials. These include the EU-funded EURARE projectb, which aims to set the basis for the development of a European REE industry; and the Security of Supply of Mineral Resources (SoS Minerals) research programme in the UK.