The national programme aims to map domestic deposits of critical raw materials and reduce dependence on imports through mining. However, the country's position in the European raw materials policy remains uncertain.
In the forests of the Little Carpathians, just a few kilometres from the capital, rich deposits of antimony – a strategic raw material essential for batteries, solar panels and fire-retardant materials – were discovered underground as far back as the Austro-Hungarian era. The raw materials that will shape the future of electric mobility and green energy can be found at sites across Slovakia.
Slovakia, once an important mining country, now imports almost half of its material inputs – 44.5 percent in 2024, well above the European average of 22.4 percent. Decades of mining have left behind numerous environmental burdens, spoil heaps and tailings ponds that today are more of a regulatory challenge than a source of opportunity. That, however, does not have to remain the case.
Last June, the government approved the National Programme for the Geological Exploration of Critical Mineral Resources – the first strategic document of its kind in decades.
Potential Sites with Critical Raw Materials
- Henclová, where granite fragments containing lithium have been identified;
- the magnesite deposit at Hnúšťa-Mútnik, where cobalt and copper are expected to occur;
- Dúbrava in the Low Tatras, where deposits show the presence of lithium;
- Švábovce and Kišovce near Poprad, home to one of the largest manganese deposits in Central Europe, essential for modern batteries;
- the possibility of extracting lithium directly from deep geothermal waters in the East Slovak Lowland.
Slovakia Wants to Explore New Sources
The National Programme for the Geological Exploration of Critical Mineral Resources, adopted in June 2025, responds to the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and sets out 29 specific objectives. In addition to systematically mapping deposits, it also focuses on exploring environmental burdens – old spoil heaps and tailings ponds – that could serve as secondary sources of critical raw materials.
According to the Ministry of Environment, this unwanted mining legacy could, after reprocessing, contribute to the economic revitalisation of affected areas and their environmental rehabilitation without endangering groundwater or nature.
The process of adopting the programme itself, however, showed that political will has its limits. During the consultation process, the Ministry of Economy succeeded in removing several of the more ambitious objectives.
Even a year after its publication, it remains unclear whether Slovakia will secure a meaningful position in the new “green” value chain, make use of its own resources, or remain a low-cost assembly hub and subcontractor for Western Europe and China.
The Legislative Package Offers a Solution
Dependence on imports of so-called critical raw materials is a challenge for the entire European Union. Most of these materials are mined – and especially processed – in China, exposing Europe to significant geopolitical risks, price shocks and the possibility of coercion in key sectors such as the green transition and defence.
One example came in April 2025, when China introduced strict export controls on seven heavy rare earth elements and permanent magnets, causing major delivery delays and licensing problems for European car manufacturers and wind turbine suppliers.
Brussels responded with three policy instruments designed to strengthen the EU's position in global competition. Between 2023 and 2025, the EU adopted the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), with binding benchmarks for mining and processing; the Battery Regulation, introducing mandatory recycling and minimum recycled content requirements; and the RESourceEU initiative, enabling joint procurement of critical materials.
A European Purchasing Cartel Will Mainly Benefit Western Europe
One of the key instruments intended to help Europe compete with China is the joint procurement mechanism for critical raw materials under the RESourceEU initiative and the CRMA. It aims to create a European “purchasing cartel” to strengthen the EU's negotiating position when procuring lithium, permanent magnets, cobalt and other strategic materials.
In practice, however, this mechanism has a major limitation for Slovakia that has little to do with company size and everything to do with where the Slovak industry sits in the value chain.
The planned construction of the large Chinese Gotion gigafactory in Šurany will not significantly improve Slovakia's position. “A gigafactory does not purchase lithium directly. It is the producer of cathode active materials (CAM) that needs lithium and supplies cathode powder for battery cell production. Slovakia currently has no such producer,” explains Patrik Križanský, Director of the Slovak Electric Vehicle Association.
It is these CAM producers – not the gigafactories themselves – that actually purchase lithium and stand to benefit from joint procurement. Slovakia is simply missing this link in the value chain.
Moreover, Slovakia did not make it into the first wave of 47 strategic CRMA projects. “Countries with strategic projects have a much stronger position when shaping procurement conditions,” Križanský adds.
Without active efforts by the government to secure inclusion in the next wave, Slovak companies risk becoming second-tier suppliers receiving leftovers or less favourable conditions. This could further widen the technological and economic gap between Western Europe and the Visegrád countries.
The Battery Regulation also affects the potential of battery production. It introduces mandatory recycled content in new batteries, gradually increasing to between 50 and 95 percent by 2031 depending on the material. Yet this will not help Slovak industry for the time being. There are still very few batteries available from end-of-life vehicles, leaving recycling companies largely dependent on production scrap from gigafactories or damaged vehicles.
“The situation is paradoxical and, for electric vehicle owners, it is actually good news because today's batteries can last hundreds of thousands of kilometres without significant degradation. For recyclers, however, it is a difficult reality,” says Patrik Križanský of SEVA.
The question of what the gigafactory will actually bring to Slovakia therefore shifts from supply chains to the labour market. Battery manufacturing could help mitigate the impact of the 2035 ban on new internal combustion engine cars by creating new jobs where old ones disappear.
“The potential to absorb workers from traditional manufacturing is real, but not automatic,” Križanský believes. “Most positions will be production operators and technicians – profiles that are not fundamentally different from workers assembling combustion-engine vehicles.” The challenge, however, will be their qualifications in specialised areas such as high-voltage battery systems, electrochemistry and handling chemicals.
The strategic project should therefore be supported by a retraining system introduced at least two to three years before production begins. Otherwise, gigafactories may rely more heavily on automation or imported foreign labour.
From Raw Materials to Resource Protection
At the same time, Brussels is preparing amendments to the Water Framework Directive that would make mining projects for critical raw materials significantly easier and shorten permitting procedures. Critics, including environmental organisations, warn that such deregulation could threaten drinking water resources, which supply more than 80 percent of Slovakia's drinking water.
According to the European Court of Auditors' report published in April 2026, similar challenges exist across the European Union. The auditors concluded that the EU's policy on critical raw materials “is not rock-solid.” They argue that the CRMA targets are non-binding, insufficiently justified and that many strategic projects will struggle to secure supplies by 2030 because permitting procedures still take an average of 15 years.
The European Commission largely accepted the auditors' conclusions. It committed to improving the methodology for assessing strategic raw materials, removing investment barriers and better coordinating permitting procedures. At the same time, it acknowledged that some projects will not deliver by 2030.
In the meantime, Slovakia has the raw materials, a strong automotive tradition and its first gigafactory. What it lacks is a coherent strategy linking geological exploration, legislation and its role in European decision-making mechanisms.
