Italy’s solar surge fuelled by hidden mining supply chain – Mining.com.au

Italy’s push to expand solar generation is creating opportunities extending beyond the companies building photovoltaic projects.
As new solar capacity comes online, demand also flows backwards through the supply chain and into the minerals and metals required to manufacture panels, conduct electricity, and connect renewable generation to the wider power system.
That dynamic is playing out through Zenith Energy (LSE:ZEN), which has acquired two more ground-mounted photovoltaic development projects in Stradella, in the Lombardy region of Italy.
Both projects have a combined indicative installed capacity of 11 megawatt-peak (MWp). The projects are located on sites suitable for ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV), covering a combined area of 12 hectares, within 300m of the motorway and existing industrial facilities and areas.
Zenith acquired both land areas at €90,000 ($145,775) per hectare, corresponding to a total land cost of approximately €1.08 million.
The acquisition increases Zenith’s total solar development pipeline to 223MWp, taking another step towards the company’s target of 240MWp by the end of 2026.
CEO Andrea Cattaneo says this acquisition takes the project in the Pavia province to 20MWp.
“We are firmly on course to hit our 240MWp target by the end of 2026,” Cattaneo says.
“Our priority is converting that scale into value. Discussions with buyers on asset monetisation are advancing, and we expect them to deliver significant revenue towards the end of this year or the beginning of 2027.”
Zenith’s latest acquisition is part of a broader expansion in Italy’s PV sector. Throughout this year, the company has continued to build its Italian solar pipeline, including the acquisition of a 5MWp PV project and 4.5MWp PV project in Rome, Italy.
The timing reflects a wider acceleration in Italy’s solar generation. Data from the nation’s electricity transmission operator Terna shows PV production increased 20.4% in August 2026.
Italy’s installed solar capacity also reached 46.61 gigawatts by the end of June 2026, according to Ember Energy.
But every additional megawatt of solar capacity represents more than a new source of electricity. It also represents another call on the raw materials required to build the infrastructure behind that generation.
Solar PV systems rely on a combination of materials including silicon, copper, silver, and aluminium. The result is a direct link between the expansion of renewable generation and the mining sector — with new solar projects creating demand upstream for explorers, developers, and producers.
Italy itself has relatively limited domestic mining activity, meaning much of the mineral supply required to support the nation’s solar expansion must come through international supply chains.
That creates opportunities for resource companies outside Italy to become part of the country’s renewable energy buildout.
The first link in the supply chain is silicon. Silicon production is the industrial process of reducing high-purity quartz or quartzite with carbon sources in submerged electric arc furnaces to create metallurgical-grade silicon, as reported by Geoscience Australia.
More importantly for solar, quartz is the primary raw material used to produce silicon, while high levels of purity are required for advanced applications.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), China is the dominant silicon producer, totalling roughly 8.5 million tonnes (Mt) of silicon per year. China’s role in the sector highlights the concentration that exists further upstream of the solar industry.
For resource companies, the opportunity sits in developing high-purity silica deposits capable of feeding industrial supply chains.
Australia is already a key player in the global silica market, ranking as the world’s second-largest exporter of silica and quartz sands, with major deposits located in Queensland and Western Australia.
One company positioned within that supply chain is VRX Silica (ASX:VRX), which is advancing its Arrowsmith North Project in WA, with first production targeted for 2027, as previously reported.
Arrowsmith North has a total mineral resource of 513Mt @ 98% silicon dioxide (SiO2), and an ore reserve of 221Mt @ 99.5% SiO2.
As Italy expands its solar generation capacity, projects such as VRX Silica’s Arrowsmith North demonstrate how a development taking place thousands of kilometres away can still be connected to the same global clean energy supply chain.
If silicon is fundamental to the solar cell itself, copper becomes critical once that electricity needs to move. Copper is the primary electrical conductor used to collect, transmit, and convert the electricity generated by solar panels.
Similar to VRX Silica, Solis Minerals (ASX:SLM) has an opportunity to contribute through its copper project portfolio in South America.
Earlier this month, the company began a five-hole, 2,500m diamond drilling program at the Cinto Copper Project in Peru. Drilling is targeting porphyry mineralisation, as well as testing coincident geochemical and geophysical targets.
CEO Mitch Thomas says Cinto features ‘excellent’ copper porphyry potential, with “abundant outcropping breccia-style copper mineralisation, geophysical targets, proximity to globally significant copper mines, and regional infrastructure”.
Solis also owns the Ilo Este and Ilo Norte projects in southern Peru’s coastal copper belt.
Ilo Este is a large copper porphyry system with coincident gold, silver, and molybdenum, while Ilo Norte comprises a large alteration system that is 10km long and several hundred metres thick.
Solis also owns the Cucho Copper Project in Peru, which it describes as a ‘compelling’ exploration and development opportunity. Cucho features extensive historical datasets, existing drill-defined copper mineralisation from surface, and clear geological indicators of a district-scale mineralised system.
Italy imported more than US$10.88 billion ($15.5 billion) worth of copper in 2025, as reported by the United Nations COMTRADE database via Trading Economics. This highlights the nation’s reliance on international supply to support its industrial base.
As such, explorers like Solis Minerals are well-positioned to advance and develop their prospective copper projects to contribute to the global renewable energy transition.
The final link is silver — which is used in solar cells as a conductive paste applied to silicon wafers.
For countries accelerating solar generation, access to reliable silver supply remains a critical part of the broader raw material equation.
Italy currently produces virtually no raw mined silver, with annual mine production dropping to near zero after domestic mines closed.
As a result, Italy is the 11th largest importer of silver worldwide, totalling a value of US$1.07 billion during 2025, as reported by the Global Trade Algorithmic Intelligence Center (GTAIC) data.
That dependence shifts the focus away from Italy’s borders and towards the international companies potentially capable of supplying the materials required by its growing clean energy infrastructure.
For Iltani Resources (ASX:ILT), Italy’s silver requirements provide a useful example of how an Australian explorer can sit at the upstream end of a much larger global energy story.
The company’s flagship Orient Project, located in North Queensland, is an advanced silver-indium system with a total resource of 62.5Mt at 81.5 grams per tonne silver equivalent (AgEq), containing 45.9 million ounces of AgEq.
With drilling continuing across Orient, Iltani is seeking to expand the current resource, while also improving its understanding of the mineralised system.
The connection between Iltani Resources’ Orient Project and Italy’s solar expansion may not be a direct supply agreement, but it highlights the broader dynamic shaping the resources sector. As countries build more renewable generation, demand for the minerals embedded throughout that infrastructure reaches back to explorers worldwide.
From silicon and copper to silver, Italy’s solar expansion is underpinned by a much larger mining supply chain.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au

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