Proposals submitted by Greek companies ElvalHalcor and Hellas Gold have been included in the European Union’s new list of projects under the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which aims to strengthen the bloc’s supply of critical raw materials.
The development underscores Greece’s importance in Europe’s and the global critical raw materials value chains.
The selected projects are ElvalHalcor’s “ETEOCLES – Developing a Recycling Hub for Low Quality Copper Scrap”, which focuses on copper recycling, and the company’s “New Aluminium Recycling Hub in Greece”, which concerns aluminium recycling. The third project is Hellas Gold’s Skouries Project, a subsidiary of Eldorado Gold, which was recently inaugurated and involves copper-gold mining and processing. Commercial production is expected to begin by the end of 2026.
According to information obtained by Naftemporiki, another Greek proposal was not included in the latest list because the project was not sufficiently mature. However, industry sources told the newspaper that it is expected to be included in the next call for new CRMA projects.
It is worth noting that METLEN’s integrated project covering bauxite mining, the expansion of its alumina production facility and gallium production was included in the list of strategic projects in 2025.
For this second call, the European Commission received 102 applications from 18 EU member states. The Commission is expected to announce a new call for applications for strategic projects towards the end of 2026.
Meanwhile, the Commission’s latest announcement states that, since the launch of RESourceEU, more than €2 billion in financial support has been committed through the Innovation Fund, state aid and the European Investment Bank.
Focus on copper and aluminium recycling and production
The two ElvalHalcor projects are key components of the company’s strategy to strengthen its position in the use of secondary raw materials through aluminium and copper recycling. The Greek company aims to increase its scrap input capacity by a total of 84%.
Meanwhile, Eldorado Gold’s Skouries mine is set to become a key supplier of copper and gold to European and international markets.
According to mining industry executives, “the strong presence of recycling confirms the central role of secondary raw materials in European planning. At the same time, the inclusion of mining and metallurgical processing highlights the need to develop the entire production chain.
“For Greek investments, the next step is to translate recognition into concrete milestones: completion of the necessary procedures, securing financing and supplies, commercial agreements and systematic monitoring of progress. Public administration can make a meaningful contribution through timely coordination and the resolution of outstanding issues, while maintaining environmental protection requirements and transparency.”
Stéphane Séjourné: We are stepping up efforts on critical raw materials
The EU’s new list of projects supporting critical raw materials comprises 46 proposals from almost all EU member states, including Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Greece.
Stéphane Séjourné, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for industrial strategy, who is closely familiar with Greece’s efforts in the critical raw materials sector, said: “With this second wave of strategic projects, Europe is stepping up its efforts as never before to regain sovereignty in critical raw materials.
“Since the approval of RESourceEU, we have been using every tool at our disposal to open mines, develop processing and recycling capacity, and secure our supply chains. Our approach is simple: reduce dependency and increase production in Europe. We have the resources, the projects and the funding.”
“We are now accelerating our efforts,” Séjourné said.
What the projects mean
The projects will contribute to the benchmarks set out in the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), under which, by 2030, the EU’s capacity is intended to meet at least 10% of its annual consumption of strategic raw materials through extraction, 40% through processing and 25% through recycling.
The new project proposals cover different stages of the raw materials value chain: eight concern extraction, 11 processing and 19 recycling. They cover 15 of the 17 strategic raw materials identified under the Act.
The 46 projects, together with the 47 strategic projects selected within the EU and the 13 strategic projects in third countries selected in March and June last year, respectively, could also meet 89% of the EU’s benchmark for cobalt processing, as well as 57% for tungsten and 51% for magnesium.
They would also fully meet the benchmarks for recycling lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements.
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