{
  "id": 13035980,
  "title": "Materie prime critiche: in Sardegna si cerca l’equilibrio tra le bonifiche e una miniera da riattivare",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/materie-prime-critiche-in-sardegna-si-cerca-lequilibrio-tra-le",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-09T05:02:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Il Sole 24 Ore",
    "slug": "il-sole-24-ore",
    "url": "https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/materie-prime-critiche-sardegna-si-cerca-l-equilibrio-le-bonifiche-e-miniera-riattivare-AJeBRndB"
  },
  "original_language": "it",
  "account": "In Sardegna, the journey towards the enhancement of strategic raw materials begins with the rehabilitation of landfills, treatment of waste residues from old mining activities, and a mine set for reactivation. A delegation composed of technical and managerial figures from Mimit, Mase, Ispra and the regional industry department visited four sites in Sardinia: Monteponi, Portovesme, Montevecchio and Silius.\n\nIn these areas, the game of strategically critical materials and the circular economy is played out. The land rehabilitation, which must contend with residues from centuries-old mining, becomes an opportunity for the recovery of new raw materials. According to the project Urbes, financed by Pnrr funds, the residues will be valorized, recovering iron, lead, zinc, and rare earths and simultaneously resolving socio-environmental problems linked to the mobilization of pollutants. The main mineral deposits, according to authors of a study by the Region, include lead, zinc, silver, copper, antimony, fluorite, and coal.\n\nOne of the areas of particular interest is Monteponi, a zone of historical and landscape relevance for the residue mining activity in the area. Then Masua, a coastal mining site, and Montevecchio, where bonification and restoration interventions of degraded areas are starting. The treatment of processing waste can yield critical materials and, in some cases, rare earths, or some of the 17 elements on the periodic table ranging from scandium to lutetium. In processing residues, preliminary studies have registered mineral concentrations with percentages reaching 6%, a figure lower than that in mining cultivation but considered good, especially because the material is ready to be processed in a plant. This operation saves the entire mining (and associated costs) that precede and follow extraction. Other elements studied include germanium, indium, and other elements that make up rare earths.\n\nThe industrial and metallurgical park of Portovesme, in the center of the delegation's visit, plays a significant role in the processing of non-ferrous metals currently in operation: \"Advanced recycling projects for lithium-ion batteries will be implemented in this reality, recovery of high-purity bismuth and valorization of historical mining residues.\" Also, the return to the mine with the reactivation of the Silius site, for which over 30 million euros have been invested. Mineraria Gerrei has a plan to reinvigorate the fluorite deposit, a resource considered strategic for several industrial sectors and for the European objectives of supply. The productive activity of the mine, once started and in operation, alone can cover 4% of the EU demand for fluorite.\n\nIn the horizon, but still under study, could be the part related to rare earths. The reopening is imminent as well because adaptation activities of the plants of one of the island's historic mines are underway. \"Sardinia has a unique mining, industrial, and scientific heritage in the national panorama. The comparison with Mimit, Mase, and Ispra confirms the increasingly central role that the island can play in the country's industrial and mining policies, combining environmental sustainability, innovation, research, and economic development\" said Emanuele Cani, regional minister of Industry.",
  "summary": "Il cammino per la valorizzazione delle materie prime critiche strategiche parte, in Sardegna, dalla bonifica delle discariche e trattamento dei residui di lavorazioni minerarie dismesse e da una miniera in...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}