Walking through the rooms of the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain of the CSIC is like traveling back in time. Here, 177 years ago, the first geological map of the country began to be made. It was a time of loss of colonies and in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. The development was built using coal and iron. It was necessary to know what resources the country had. Now, in the era of AI and the digital world, this scientific institution, the third oldest in the country, is once again searching for resources in the subsoil: 34 critical and strategic minerals with which the EU wants to gain strategic autonomy, vital substances for the industrial development of the 21st century, such as rare earths or lithium. This year, in addition, they celebrate the centenary of the Geomining Museum, which occupied the plenary hall where the XIV International Geological Congress was held in 1926, a period between the wars when international scientific collaboration had to be recovered.
We are in a new Industrial Revolution that puts this institution back in focus. What are they going to do from the IGME-CSIC?
We are going to explore in our territory the presence of some of the 34 critical and strategic minerals that Europe marks for us and that are essential for strategic industries such as renewable energies, digital transformation, defense, mobility and space research, among others. The European law of 2024, the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), wants to strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy in critical minerals, because right now we have a great dependence on other countries, especially China. The CRMA requires that at least 10% of EU consumption be extracted in the EU; that at least 40% of annual EU consumption is processed in the EU; that 25% of the needs for these minerals come from recycling and that no third country concentrates more than 65% of the supply of a strategic raw material. The challenge for Spain as a European country is enormous and the IGME-CSIC will be there as a reference body in mining research for almost two centuries. In fact, we collaborate with the competent ministry and the mining sector in the development of the National Mining Exploration Plan (PNEM).
Are there signs of our potential?
We know the geology of the national territory very well and that is the basis of the PNEM. For example, we are the second largest producer of copper in Europe behind Poland. In the SW of the Iberian Peninsula there is one of the largest accumulations of metallic sulfides in the world, the so-called Iberian Pyritic Belt, with important resources of copper and other strategic minerals such as zinc or silver. We are also the first in Europe in strontium, with some important mines worldwide in the Granada Basin (Montevive and Escúzar) that exploit celestine, a “literary” mineral that is a strontium sulfate. Our country also has important resources in fluorite, tungsten and lithium. Spain is often seen as a tourist, agricultural or service country, but it is rarely seen as a country with an extraordinary geological heritage, although some of the most important mineral concentrations in Europe are here.
Mining activity is not very popular…
Spain has always been a country with a mining tradition. You have to go back to the Tartessians, the Phoenicians and the Romans to understand the importance of mining in our history. The Spanish empire was built thanks to the Almadén cinnabar, the largest deposit of mercury in the world, a key element for the extraction of gold and silver. And our recent history is written hand in hand with coal, iron… The mining sector is making large investments in research and mining exploration, although many times all that investment in knowledge does not end in exploitation. The question is not whether there will be mining or not, but what mining we want. 21st century mining must be sustainable, maintain a determined social commitment to the territory, be completely safe for its workers and with innovative technologies that contribute to ensuring that the environmental impact is as small as possible. The throwaway mining that we knew until now is over.
And how do you combat that rejection?
It is fought with science, with technology, with laws that ensure surveillance and control and with a great commitment from the mining sector that must lead by example. We cannot do without minerals. A mobile phone contains about 28 critical minerals, AI or the internet requires huge digital facilities built with critical minerals and an electric car has more than 200 kilos of these minerals. Would we be willing to do without these technologies? Europe also forces us to recycle mining. And we are already looking for these new resources in the old waste dumps and mining ponds, because the rejection of mining is fought with actions, not with words.
At a time when many experts are needed in mining exploration, it turns out that there is a lack of geologists. How did we get there?
Good question, let’s see, I think there are many aspects to take into account. On the one hand, newer and more attractive careers have emerged for today’s youth, such as Environmental Sciences and many engineering courses. But, on the other hand, geology is practically absent in secondary school curricula: It is not that they reject geology, it is that they barely know it. And I also believe that we geologists have done little self-criticism and have not adapted, quickly and efficiently, to the new challenges of society. We are certainly a country with little geological culture.
Why is geology important?
It is very important, you see, at the IGME we have four scientific departments that respond to geological dangers (volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, floods, tsunamis, landslides, etc.). We have just experienced a seismic crisis in Granada, and there we have been advising on the emergency, as we also did during the volcanic eruption of La Palma in 2021. Geology saves lives. Another important line of work is groundwater. Spain is largely supplied by aquifers, especially in the Mediterranean area. The Balearic Islands, which is one of the most touristic autonomous communities in our country, is 95% supplied. of its aquifers. The resources are often not in the swamps, but under our feet. Who studies that? The hydrogeologists. Also fundamental for the IGME is the work on geological cartography, which must be continually renewed. Our latest geological map is from 2015, and already includes the geology of the marine shelf. And, of course, research into mineral resources is key to our center and that historical link with mining that we can never leave aside. Geology is not only a science that explains the territory, it is the science that allows it to be inhabited.
And how do we solve this crisis for geologists?
Well, greatly enhancing dissemination and communication. We collaborate closely with the Geological Society of Spain, which organizes the Geolodía annually in all Spanish provinces and with enormous participation. It is a day in the countryside in which you learn to read the landscape with different eyes. But our main objective is to reach young audiences, who move through other channels. How can we attract young people to Geology? That is our great challenge and we are going to fight so that geology is back in secondary school syllabuses.
Do we know more about the galaxy, about what is outside the planet, than about what is inside the Earth?
It is a very interesting question, because we know the interior of the Earth precisely thanks to earthquakes. We know directly only the skin of the Earth, the earth’s crust. In the 1970s, the Russians made the deepest borehole ever drilled at 12,262m. It may seem like a lot, but they represent just 0.2% of the distance to the center of the Earth, which is about 6,371 km deep. It is curious that the human being who is exploring Mars is reaching other ends of the universe, but we have not yet touched a rock below 12.26 kilometers, except for those spit out at us by volcanoes. We know little about the interior of our planet, and there I again demand the need for the population to have more training and more scientific culture in geology. It is very important that we know our territory: what we have built our houses on, the geological resources of the subsoil, if the tap water comes from an aquifer, what the dangers are in order to be able to face them. Because we have no choice but to live with nature and the geological risks of our environment and that requires fundamental geological knowledge.
Do they listen to the scientists?
Less than we would like. Our scientific knowledge has to inhabit public policies: in urban planning, territorial planning, and the management of natural resources and emergencies, because ignoring geology does not eliminate geological risks. We scientists also have to go out into the public space, and have greater contact with society and the real problems that concern citizens. This country needs much more scientific culture and scientists who are highly committed to society.