According to Miningweekly, citing Bloomberg, a Cold War-era mine near the Slovak capital Bratislava is attracting attention from the EU.
The project, known as Trojarova, is situated on a densely wooded hillside in what is known as the Little Carpathians in Slovakia, where Soviet engineers first discovered antimony-bearing ore layers in the 1980s. Its owner, Canada-based Military Metals Corp (MMC), is seen as an opportunity for Europe to secure a military metal.
For critical minerals such as antimony, EU countries appear unable to provide funding and take action, leaving projects like Trojarova vulnerable to being snapped up by competitors. MMC has so far failed to secure an offtake agreement from the EU.
As President Trump threatens to raise tariffs on Europe, the project illustrates the danger of Europe falling behind in the fierce competition among superpowers.
As imports of critical minerals such as rare earths face restrictions, the US has been actively seeking partnerships with resource-rich countries and funding projects around the world to accelerate development, but Europe has lagged behind.
"Member states remain reluctant to foot the bill for mining and processing projects outside their borders, even when geo-economic realities demand it," said Schulz Sabrina, Germany director of the European Initiative for Energy Security (EIES). "Financing remains the main obstacle."
The 2023 European Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) laid out the EU's strategy. The CRMA set targets that at least 10% of Europe's annual critical materials supply should come from domestic extraction and 40% from domestic processing. These targets compelled member states to take action, identify security gaps, and concentrate investment to ensure secure supplies of battery metals such as lithium.
Since then, global competitors have pivoted to military resources such as antimony, gallium, and germanium, but Europe has not followed suit. Insiders believe this is because EU officials lack the authority to pursue policies similar to those of the US and lack the funding to invest.
This has made it difficult for underfunded enterprises to launch minor metal projects, as they struggle to raise capital in private markets at the very least.
With tight budgets across Europe, many EU member states are unknown on how to take action. In Germany, for example, the economics ministry, the chancellery, and the foreign ministry have yet to agree on how to address critical minerals risks.
The result is a deadlock, with EU officials worried that member states fear missing out on opportunities.
Last month, the EU reached an agreement with the US on policy coordination to secure critical minerals supply chains. For MMC, this was an important development that could lead to joint US-EU investment and offtake partnerships for Trojarova.
On March 24, Hartmann Frank, a German foreign ministry official responsible for Asian affairs, said at an event in Berlin that Europe was not acting fast enough and "not doing enough."
"We must implement a long-term strategy, keep the funds and capital in our hands, and invest in these critical minerals over the next decade," he said at a panel discussion hosted by the German Council on Foreign Relations. "Otherwise, we will not be able to break free from this dependency."
The Trojarova project, acquired by MMC about two years ago, could be an opportunity.
Antimony is a silvery-white metal commonly associated with gold, widely used in military applications such as ammunition, night-vision goggles, and infrared sensors, accounting for 15% of total demand. Other uses include flame retardants, nuclear energy, and renewable energy.
"Antimony is a versatile minor metal," said Schulz. "Antimony supply is highly concentrated, and Europe is almost entirely dependent on imports."
This is also why MMC has been pitching the Trojarova project to investors as a significant opportunity in Europe, capable of supplying antimony ingots directly to national defense clients.
MMC CEO Eldridge Scott said smelters in Germany and Sweden could process ore from the project, helping Europe establish an entire antimony supply chain from mining to processing.
The mine, located near the wine town of Pezinok in southwestern Slovakia, was first discovered and mined by the Soviets. Although the 1.7-kilometer-long mine was later abandoned, it remains one of Europe's most significant antimony deposits.
MMC is too small to resume production at the mine on its own and needs to co-invest with partners and build a smelter. If production resumes within two to three years, the mine could produce 6,000 mt of antimony annually, meeting one-third of Europe's demand.
However, the company, with a market capitalization of less than $30 million, needs substantial funding.
In addition, critical minerals prices are prone to wild swings, and even in markets such as lithium, several major projects have stalled as miners seek government funding.
No matter how high-quality this company's project may be, Europe still lacks the funding and determination to ensure the development of these resources. Germany's own 1 billion euro raw material fund has so far supported only two projects, creating more barriers for companies to qualify than it has removed.
The European Commission and its member states have signed multiple memoranda of understanding with producing countries. For example, Spain reached an agreement with Brazil last month. However, US agreements with these countries are larger in funding scale and progressing faster.
The US government's agreement with the EU reflects its so-called price floors to safeguard producers' operations. European countries have been hesitant, but sometimes have had no choice but to agree to US proposals.
Meanwhile, the momentum for EU action has largely given way to other more pressing crises. In contrast, although the US government has recently been focused on conflicts such as the Iran war, the president's team of aides has been busy identifying mineral projects and bidding to secure them.
A US enterprise has already approached MMC to request a field trip to the Trojarova project. Meanwhile, the US government's investment arm agreed last month to a $5 million deal to restart another shuttered antimony mine in North Macedonia.
MMC president Hüser Thomas hopes Trojarova will not face a similar outcome. The German national, formerly a manager at Glencore, joined the company this year.
"What we still lack is not plans, but enforcement," he said. "Europe's raw material strategy remains fragmented, slow, and often disconnected from industrial reality."
