A clean sweep, a constitutional blitz, a full-blown mugging. More than a law decree, it is a bulldozer, digging from the bowels of the earth to the open-air deposits, of yesterday and today. With one blow he annihilates the Sardinian Statute, handing over to the Palaces of Rome the "state and property rights of the Region relating to mines, quarries and salt pans". A low blow, first of all to the most ancient history, that of the Sardinian mines. The legislative measure just passed by the Council of Ministers is yet another assault on the island in terms of renewable energy. This time the potential deposits of critical and rare materials, fundamental for the Chinese and American-driven ecological transition, are under attack. With at least ten years of delay, the State has realized that it is damn late on rare and critical matters.
Crafty people from the Dolce Vita
To make up for lost time, it relies on the most versatile tool of parliamentary legislation: «Law decree containing “Urgent provisions on critical raw materials of strategic interest”. It's a shame, however, that, in the legislative framework, the "crafty people" of the famous street of the Dolce Vita, in the heart of Rome, headquarters of the Ministry of Made in Italy, "slide" into the folds of the law on "rare materials", the most of the attacks on the Sardinian Autonomy. They know where they have to hit. They are very clear that the mines, both open and closed, are located mainly in Sardinia. And they know that on this island, which has always been violated on and off the ground, there is a statutory provision of constitutional rank, article three, letter "m", with which Sardinia has enjoyed primary competence on the subject for seventy-six years. of «mining heritage and state property». To steal from him that "primary competence" there is only one clause, devious and cowardly: to declare the legislative measure "social economic reform". The presumption of the "Made in Italy" department has no boundaries. No sooner said than done. Article two, «Principles applicable in relations with the Regions»: «The provisions of this decree apply to the Regions with special Statute and to the autonomous Provinces of Trento and Bolzano as they contain fundamental principles of economic and social reform». This is where they wanted to arrive, without shame and without frills, with the aim of "getting their hands" on those mines which, according to the confidential reports we have dealt with in recent months, hide in the bowels of the earth an important potential for " rare” and “critical” materials. An unprecedented theft of "skills", citing a non-existent "economic and social reform", a call to that picklock with the sole aim of "attacking" Sardinian autonomy and placing the management of the mines under the aegis of Rome. Even in this case, if the Sardinian Region does not challenge that decree, there is a risk of a very serious precedent capable of influencing the entire article three of the Statute, that of the "primary" competences of the Region. Having invoked the terms of "an economic and social reform" is not only a clumsy move, but it reveals a "predatory" attitude of the State capable of canceling the regional autonomy of Sardinia with an unjustified and unscrupulous blitz. The "hands on Sardinian mines" plan has a national focus, but it is all too clear that the unspeakable objective is multiple.
Three Sardinian fronts
In the decree, in fact, there are at least three well-defined Sardinian sides: there are the mines open and to be reopened, there are the rare materials to be recycled and, finally, the large mining waste, those tailings dams which only in the Iglesiente area - guspinese amount to over 100 million cubic meters. In order: in first place are the “deep” mines. In this case the Government's objective is aimed at the ancient wells of Silius, in the heart of Sarrabus: «mine called “Genna Tres Montis” for Fluorine, Lead, Zinc, Silver and Barite minerals in the territory of the municipalities of Silius and San Basilio with a mineralurgical treatment plant in the municipality of Assemini". It is only in 2022 that a regional "hand" adds the magic word: «Mining concession for known minerals and “rare earths”». Despite being an inactive company, it is «Mineraria Gerrei srl» that presents an adaptation project to the Region with the "forced" insertion of the new business, that of "critical materials". A mine under international observation given that on 27 July one year ago our investigation revealed the advent of the giant "Aruba SpA" in the shareholding structure with 51% of the "prescient" mining company. An effective coup which now risks putting it back on the scene of concessions to be put up for tender, this time in the hands of the State. A game which, in everyone's silence, involves the most important Italian provider in the world, with an infinite wealth of Data Centers in half of Europe and which has been conquering the Chinese market for a few years.
Aruba & Muscadroxiu
A takeover of the "Muscadroxiu" mine which remained in the shadows, but which is now forcefully back in vogue with the Government's provision. The question is whether the Government will also try to call into question this concession even though the Region had already settled the matter some time ago. The second objective of the decree law is added to the "government" of the "subsoil": creation of the "Single national contact point and maximum terms for issuing authorizations for recycling and transformation projects". It is not difficult to read in this rule a reference to "Portovesme Srl", the Sulcis metallurgical industry dedicated to the production of lead and zinc.
Black mass
A Swiss, multinational company, sponsored like few others in the powerful offices of the Ministries of Rome, which last year had presented, without too much success, a project for the «construction of the new demonstration plant for the production of lithium carbonate and mixed metal oxides from the treatment of Black Mass ." A devastating plan, with a grand landing of ships from half the world loaded with " Black Mass ", the black mass that the gentlemen of "Glencore", owners of the Sulcitano plant, would acquire directly from their Canadian partners of Li-Cycle, those who would produce this mixture of poisons ground up from batteries collected around the world. The authorization procedure pursued by the Swiss company did not allow for subterfuge: «Plants for the disposal and recovery of hazardous waste». Now, that term "recycling" of rare and critical materials strangely resurfaces after the regional rejection in the text of the government decree, opening an impressive gap to try to pass through Rome what came out of the windows of the Region. The third chapter of the decree, which focuses directly on Sardinia, is enclosed, as in a treasure chest, in article nine: «Regulations for the recovery of mineral resources from extractive waste». They know what they are talking about in the Rome offices: in those mountains of tailings, between Monteponi and Montevecchio, Campo Pisano and San Giovanni, there are estimated - according to the Australian plan filed on the London Metal Exchange - 89.2 million tonnes of material with of 2.07% zinc and 0.56% lead. Translated: those piles of "dust" contain over 1.8 million tons of zinc and almost 500,000 tons of lead. The calculations are billions: inside that "red" mud and not only there would be lead and zinc contents of over 3 and a half billion euros. They write it openly in the decree: «Considering the significant quantity of extraction waste in closed storage facilities and the related potential in terms of critical raw materials» a «Plan for the recovery of raw materials from historical extraction waste» must be prepared. That potential, which the Region has systematically ignored in Sardinia, becomes a "strategic project" for Rome: «The extraction of mineral substances in closed or abandoned extractive waste storage facilities, for which the mining title is no longer effective, it can only be granted following the development, by the aspiring concessionaire, of a specific "Plan for the recovery of raw materials from historical extraction waste"".
The hidden treasure
What imposed that rule on the recovery of that metalliferous potential was the further study by Ispra which had put everything in black and white: «Such deposits could represent an important source of “secondary raw materials”. Generally they have good mining potential, with even high contents as in the case of the red muds of Monteponi (Iglesias), for which an average zinc content of 7-8% has been ascertained. In several cases the storage depots also contain interesting quantities of Critical Raw Materials (e.g. Rare Earths in Silius), but much still needs to be done in terms of characterization and total reuse of the materials". Last detail: the State "takes away" the "primary competence", the mines, the accumulations of materials and also the "royalties". The "gain" for the public is set between 5 and 7%, but it all ends up in the state coffers. The Region only has the power to appeal to the Constitutional Court against Rome's "coup" on Sardinian mines.
