Geoeconomics of fluorspar as strategic and critical mineral in Iran

Supply of strategic materials during the Cold War was under the influence of military competition between East and West. But after the cold war and turning of geopolitics and geostrategy to geoeconomics, the assessment method of criticality matrix with dimension of economic importance and supply risk has been commenced by the US National Research Council. It has spread based on conflict between north and south and security or economic power of the developed countries. In this paper it is attempt to study a mineral using various critical minerals assessment methods to verify its effectiveness in economic development and its geoeconomics importance of Iran. One of such materials is the fluorite strategic mineral with trade mark of fluorspar that its deposits are found in the carbonate rocks of Triassic and Elika formation in Central Alborz and Shotori formation in central Iran. It was shown that the assessment methods used by the US Geological Survey, the US Department of Defense, EU and German Industries, depicted the fluorspar as a critical and strategic mineral in the world. Fluorspar economic value is because of its use in steel, aluminum, hydro-fluorocarbons, Teflon, renewable and clean energy production. The results of this study show the rank of Iran is seven in the world in terms of production, but this country is one of the main importers for intermediate goods made from these mineral among its neighboring countries. So as a first step, investment on systematic exploration of fluorspar resources is necessary to increase the supply of raw materials for the country's aluminum industry. Exploration of new reserves can also reduce concerns relevant to supply risk at the international level for developed countries. It can also be concluded that the joint investment, cooperation and concurrently researches in relation to raw materials and minerals, may lead to a reduction in competition between North and South countries. Hence, the review and monitoring of evaluation methods of critical raw materials in the developed countries is very important and valuable for choosing the appropriate policies for those developing countries that own these resources.