Should more raw materials such as quartz sand or lithium be mined domestically? In the Saxony-Anhalt Debate has raged over the potential of Altmark’s alleged lithium deposits as well as other raw materials. The black-red-yellow coalition is basically open to greater use of domestic raw materials.
“Our state has a long mining tradition,” said the environmental policy spokesperson of the FDP parliamentary group, Kathrin Tarricone, in the state parliament in Magdeburg. Lots raw material such as copper, lithium and nickel are currently imported from abroad, said Tarricone. However, a just energy transition will not succeed without a raw materials base.
The Liberals see the natural resource potential of several areas of the country. Tarricone emphasized that these raw materials can be extracted sustainably and should not reflexively use the “deadly argument” that mining is outdated and therefore harmful to the environment. Currently, there are many innovations that need to be encouraged.
What do you need lithium for?
“Saxony-Anhalt has great potential for domestic raw materials,” said Economy Minister Sven Schulze (CDU). It’s more than just salt, gravel, and limestone. In the future, there will probably be more focus on lithium, Schulze said.
Large lithium deposits are thought to exist in the Altmark in northern Saxony-Anhalt. Construction projects are underway. Whether commercial mining can actually be realized depends on technical, economic and licensing factors. Lithium is an important component for the production of lithium-ion batteries, which are indispensable for electromobility.
Schulze: Environmental standards in Germany are very high
Schulze stressed that almost no region in Europe has environmental and safety standards as high as those in Germany. Citizens have the right to ask questions when raw material extraction occurs on their doorstep. But all aspects are taken into account in a transparent approval process, said the Minister of Economy.
SPD MP Holger Hövelmann stressed that lithium is one of the most important raw materials today. The incident at Altmark is good news. However, many questions remain unresolved, such as whether the deposit can be economically developed, Hövelmann said.
AfD wants to reduce dependency
CDU politician Ulrich Thomas said, referring to Altmark: “There’s a lot of lithium there.” Assuming that happens, purely mathematically, up to 1.4 million car batteries could be made. “We support the use of local raw materials in this way,” says Thomas.
The AfD parliamentary group also wants to reduce dependence on foreign sources and increase domestic value creation. At the same time, MP Daniel Roi accused other parties of destroying industries such as brown coal in recent years.
Wulf Gallert (Left Party) stated that community acceptance is very important in the use of local raw materials. Olaf Meister (Green Party) threw it FDP proposed to spread the “romanticism of raw materials”. The ecological impacts of mining projects are often overt. “Not all deposits can be developed in a meaningful way economically, ecologically or socially,” Meister said.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:251114-930-292619/2
