GERMANY Law and Practice Contributed by: Stefan Altenschmidt, Pauline Müller and Ina Schwanke, Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH
However, mining property – a specific type of licence issued under the Federal Mining Act – can be charged with a mortgage or easement as security. Mining prop - erty and any mortgages are registered in the land reg - ister. 6. Mining: Outlook and Trends 6.1 Two-Year Forecast for the Mining Sector The number of new mining licences granted each year has increased steadily in recent years. In 2023, 59 new licences were granted, rising to 70 in 2024 and reach - ing 72 in the first half of 2025. Currently, most mining in Germany involves industrial minerals such as raw kaolin, rock salt (including evaporated salt and brine) and potash. Following the decline in the importance of mining metallic resources in Germany in recent decades, there are now signs of a turnaround in this trend. Germany has significant untapped potential in terms of certain critical raw materials. Added to this are a high direct demand for these raw materials in Germany, direct access to the European market and Germany’s well-developed infrastructure. Therefore, the extraction of domestic natural resources – espe - cially metals for the energy transition – is expected to increase in the coming years. Energy Transition Most renewable energy in Germany is produced by wind power. Wind turbines require large quantities of mineral resources. As renewable energies continue to expand, demand for domestic resources is expected to rise, as will their extraction. Critical Raw Materials Domestic exploration and extraction of the materi - als for the energy transition has become important. Owing to the current geopolitical situation, there is an increased awareness of the need for independence in this area from other players, both within the EU and in Germany. To this end, the EU adopted the Criti - cal Raw Materials Act. This Regulation promotes the exploration of critical raw materials within the EU and encourages projects for their extraction. The extrac - tion of critical raw materials can therefore be priori - tised, accelerating the granting of licences. Projects may also receive financial support.
The Critical Raw Materials Act regulates the priority status of strategic projects. For the purposes of the Critical Raw Materials Act, strategic projects are initia - tives that are crucial for reducing import dependency and securing the EU’s supply of critical raw materials. This status can be achieved by, for example, a mining or circular economy project. Projects with this status must be given the highest possible national status and treated accordingly in the approval procedures. To simplify the process, the coordination of approval procedures and communication between the operator and the authorities is carried out by a single national authority (the central contact point). Furthermore, the Critical Raw Materials Act sets binding timeframes for the approval of strategic projects. The German government’s raw materials strategy also aims to increase the extraction of metallic resources for Germany’s energy transition. To this end, the Ger - man government has set up a raw materials fund to promote projects for the extraction, processing and recycling of critical raw materials. Projects in these areas may receive financial support ranging from EUR50 million to EUR150 million. The circular econo - my is also a key aspect of the raw materials strategy. Many important metallic raw materials are already obtained through recycling, and this will become increasingly important in the future to ensure a stable supply of raw materials. In June 2025, Germany submitted the first explora - tion report under the Critical Raw Materials Act to the European Commission. This report aims to identify and evaluate information on the potential of critical and strategic raw materials in Germany, creating incentives for their development. Germany still has unexploited geological potential for critical raw mate - rials; for example, Germany has one of the largest estimated lithium reserves worldwide. There are also significant deposits of copper and tin. Exploration efforts for these critical raw materials are currently increasing significantly. Growing Interest in Lithium There is a particular focus on lithium extraction. Ger - many’s lithium deposits are among the largest in the world, and mining these deposits is becoming increas - ingly important. The first lithium extraction projects are
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