Conference on Financing Mechanisms for Mineral Raw Materials Projects and Their Value Chain — FIIM 2026

The Iberian Mining Investment Forum 2026 left a very clear conclusion for those of us who work in mining projects: the extractive industry is the anchor of the entire value chain.

Without extraction there is no processing. Without processing there is no refining. Without refining there is no industrial transformation. And without all of the above, there is no real strategic autonomy.

From Leapman, we attended the forum with special interest because the debate is no longer just about identifying resources. The real challenge lies in converting those resources into bankable, permittable, executable, and socially defensible projects.

A strategic mining project today has to demonstrate much more than tonnage and grade. It has to accredit a process route, technical maturity, permits, defensible CAPEX, financial model, execution capacity, social license, and industrial fit into the European value chain.

As José Manuel Saldaña pointed out, in Spain many times “we want milk, but we don't want cows.”

We want batteries, wind turbines, electrical grids, electric vehicles, defense, digitalization, and energy transition. But we still have enormous difficulties in accepting the extractive, industrial, and territorial projects that make that chain possible.

Mining finance needs specific instruments

One of the most important takeaways was the need for specific financial support for mining and its associated industrial transformation.

Mining does not fit well into generalist instruments designed for faster-maturing sectors. A strategic mining project does not just need debt or equity in a final phase. It needs financing from early stages: exploration, technical studies, engineering, permitting, community relations, construction, ramp-up, and commissioning.

Each of those phases carries different risks: geological risk, metallurgical risk, regulatory risk, environmental risk, social risk, market risk, and execution risk.

An important difference in approach emerged here. The sector defended the need for specific financial instruments for mining; from public funding, the message was more conservative: trying to fit these projects into already existing tools.

That difference matters. If mining projects have longer cycles, higher technical risk, greater capital intensity, and superior regulatory exposure, financing them with generalist instruments may fall short.

The difference in scale is also relevant. While France and Germany operate with industrial financing instruments in the range of billions, specific lines linked to mining in Spain remain very limited.

Germany, for example, has a raw materials fund managed by KfW, oriented toward projects that contribute to securing the supply of critical raw materials through extraction, processing, and recycling. https://www.kfw.de/Rohstofffonds/?redirect=768640.

Even when calls for proposals appear in Spain, we are talking about small amounts —in the range of a few millions.

With token budgets, you cannot build mines, processing plants, or strategic value chains.

Geopolitics also affects the value chain

Geopolitics adds another layer to the problem. The war in Iran reminds us that the copper value chain does not rely solely on mines and smelters. It also depends on energy, logistics, insurance, maritime transport, reagents, and geopolitical stability.

The direct impact on copper supply may be limited. S&P Global has pointed out that Iran accounts for a small share of global copper production, but it also warns of indirect effects on costs, energy, reagents, and mining profitability. (S&P Global)

This is especially relevant for Europe. An industrial value chain is not protected just by securing the geological resource. Competitive energy, auxiliary supplies, transport, finance, insurance, and industrial capacity must also be protected.

The panel moderated by Antonio Maldonado on public disclosure and its impact on access to finance also deserves mention. It was an especially relevant point because, in mining, financing does not depend solely on the geological resource or the economic model. It also depends on the quality of technical information, how the project is presented, the confidence it generates among investors and administrations, and the capacity to explain to the territory why that project is necessary.

Strategic projects: where the debate hits the ground

For this reason, the session on the Presentation of Strategic Projects in the Iberian Peninsula was particularly interesting. The program brought together projects linked to copper, tungsten, lithium, and other critical minerals, with participants such as PEDRO SOLER ALCANTARA for Cobre Las Cruces, Pablo Neira del Avar from Iberian Resources Spain, Emanuel Proença from Savannah Resources, Ignacio Baños Terrón from Lithium Iberia, José Luis Corbacho Andrés from Recursos Minerales de Galicia, and Macarena Gutierrez, CEO of Atlantic Copper.

In the case of Abenójar Tungsten, although Antonio Cueva González appeared on the program, the presentation was ultimately delivered by Eduardo Jiménez, Managing Director of Magnesitas de Rubián, who provided an analysis deeply connected to the operational reality of a functioning mine.

There, the debate hit the ground.

At Cobre Las Cruces, I found the project's strong social backing and the decision to retain the senior team during the activity halt particularly noteworthy. These kinds of decisions preserve critical knowledge, territorial credibility, and real restart capacity.

At Iberian Resources, Pablo Neira del Avar put a figure on the table that is hard to ignore: if the project enters operation, it could produce the equivalent of 18% of the tungsten currently produced outside China. In a critical mineral like tungsten, that is not just mining. It is industrial sovereignty, defense, and European supply chain security.

In the case of Abenójar Tungsten, the intervention of Eduardo Jiménez, Managing Director of Magnesitas de Rubián, brought an analysis very close to operational reality: developing a strategic mining project is not just about securing financing or permits; it is about building a technically viable, executable operation that is connected to the territory.

The panel on public disclosure and its impact on access to financing, moderated by Antonio Maldonado Castillo, was also very well-chosen, because the bankability of a project does not depend solely on the geological asset. It also depends on the quality of technical information, how the project is communicated, and the trust it generates before investors, administrations, and the local territory.

From strategic projects to real operations

The FIIM also served as a reminder that the Iberian Peninsula has a real opportunity to position itself as one of the European hubs for the supply and transformation of critical mineral raw materials. Spain and Portugal possess resources, industrial capacity, technical knowledge, and relevant projects in lithium, copper, tungsten, and other strategic minerals.

But this window of opportunity will not open automatically.

We will have to transform resources into projects. Projects into bankable assets. Bankable assets into real operations. And real operations into European industrial value chains.

The constant presence of Teresa Mallada de Castro, PhD in Mining Engineering, member of the Association for the Energy Transition (ATE), senator, and former president of HUNOSA, who provided a brilliant final summary of the event, also deserves special mention.

Her closing was exceptionally accurate as it connected the core pieces of the debate: raw materials, industry, territory, financing, energy transition, and real execution capacity.

That is where European strategic autonomy will truly be decided.

Congratulations to PRIMIGEA, Minergia – Fundación Minas Centro, the Official College of Mining Engineers of Central Spain represented by Mr. Alfonso Vazquez Varela de Seijas, IMEB, GEMPE/C, and the Association for the Energy Transition for driving a necessary forum to move from strategic discourse to executable mining and industrial projects.

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