5 SESSION BRIEF
The session, held on 22 October 2025 in Lisbon at the MINEX Europe Forum, was structured as a series of presentations followed by a high-level panel discussion. The session chaired Aleksandra Cholewa, Director of Investment and Development, Luma Holding addressed the critical bottleneck in Europe’s green transition: securing investment for new mining projects focused on critical minerals like copper and lithium.
The core challenge identified was the paradox of high demand versus low investment, with capital frequently leaving Europe for more established jurisdictions. The goal of the session was to identify practical steps to make European mining projects investable, accessible, affordable, and sustainable.
Presentations
The initial segment featured three detailed presentations providing context and strategic solutions to the financing challenge.
- Financing Europe’s Critical Mineral Supply
(Presenter: Artem Volynets, Founder, Chairman and CEO, ACG Metals)
- Key Message: Capital is global, and a “good project finances itself.” The copper market is robust, with demand growth diversified across sectors (construction, AI data centres, defence), leading to strong pricing expectations.
- Case Study (ACG Metals, Turkey): Demonstrated that efficient private finance is readily available for compelling projects, even in a risk-averse environment. ACG successfully raised $200 million in Nordic bonds within five weeks, noting that the process was faster and cheaper than traditional bank or private equity options.
- Implication: Relying on political funding is risky due to long political cycles. The next generation of critical metal projects will be financed by “happy private investors” who receive high returns.
- Risk Reduction through Integrated Reporting
(Presenter: Luis Chambel, Member; Managing Partner, IMEB/Sínese)
- Key Challenge: Europe operates in a risk-averse society, requiring enhanced transparency. The industry faces a complex “babel tower” of reporting standards.
- Reporting Standards: Discussed the need to bridge market-driven standards like PERC (Pan-European Resources Reporting) with government planning frameworks like UNFC (United Nations Framework Classification).
- Integrated Solution: Advocated for evolving towards a “Rosetta stone”—a single, integrated report combining traditional resource/reserve data with modern ESG and biodiversity reporting, such as the TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures). This simplifies the process for companies and provides investors and stakeholders with a complete, transparent view.
- Protection of Foreign Investments in the Mining Sector
(Presenter: Markus Burgstaller, Partner, Hogan Lovells)
- Key Risk: Addressed the growing political risk and resource nationalism, where states frequently change regulations (taxation, content, licensing) to favour domestic interests, which can severely impact foreign investments.
- Protection Tool: Highlighted the strategic use of Investment Treaties (Bilateral or Multilateral) concluded between states.
- Mechanism: These treaties grant foreign investors direct access to international arbitration (an independent international tribunal), offering protection against “internationally wrongful conduct” by a host state (e.g., unlawful permit revocation or undue delays).
- Actionable Advice: Companies must plan ahead and properly structure their investment at the outset to ensure they qualify for protection under an applicable treaty.
Panel Discussion: Turning the Investment Needle
The presentations were followed by a panel of financiers and capital markets experts discussing actionable strategies to mobilise capital.
| Speaker | Institution Type | Core Recommendation |
| Stefan Pueschel (KfW IPEX-Bank) | Commercial Bank | To attract more commercial bank debt, governments must derisk the project side, especially by providing Floor Price Support for volatile battery minerals. This mitigates pricing risk, which is currently the biggest hurdle. |
| Benedikt Sobotka (Alpha Future Funds) | Private Equity/Venture Capital | Europe must shift from focusing narrowly on 40 “critical raw materials” to solving end-use problems (e.g., the battery problem). Private capital must act as Venture Capital, investing across the integrated supply chain (early-stage exploration, technology, midstream processing). |
| Stefan Mueller (DGWA) | Advisory/Fundraising | The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act is insufficient without a funding mechanism. Governments should stop trying to make investment decisions and instead delegate capital to a specialist-managed fund to invest based on “hard facts” (resources, cost, environment), similar to models in the US and Japan. |
| Axel Kalinowski (London Stock Exchange) | Capital Markets | The LSE is undergoing its largest regulatory reform in 30+ years post-Brexit to ease market access. He urged European companies to be more confident in promoting their stories to the global investor community, noting that capital is available for well-structured companies. |
| Artem Volynets (ACG Metals) | Mining Company/Entrepreneur | A good mining company is made of good resource and good people. If you have both, money will come. Money is a commodity that chases good opportunities. Focus on high-return projects that satisfy private investors rather than relying on government funds with long political cycles. |
| Mikhail Zlobin (EBRD) | Development Bank / Institutional investor | The pipeline of bankable projects is too early-stage. Angels or State funds must take the initial high exploration risk to feed professionally developed projects to institutional investors. For battery projects, confirmed Offtake Agreements are as essential as a floor price. |
Consolidated Conclusion
The path forward for European mining requires:
- Direct De-risking: Governments must offer tools like floor price or off-take support to mitigate market volatility.
- Specialist Capital: Establishing specialised funds managed by industry experts, separate from political bureaucracy, to accelerate early-stage investment.
- Modern Reporting: Adopting integrated reporting standards to enhance transparency and simplify due diligence for investors.
- Strategic Protection: Utilizing investment treaties to protect investments from adverse political changes and resource nationalism.