Europe Discovers Largest Rare Earth Minerals Deposit

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Europe's largest deposit of rare earth minerals has been discovered by Sweden's state-owned mining giant LKAB (Lulea) in the arctic region of Kiruna, Sweden.

The company said that it has "identified significant deposits of rare earth elements in the Kiruna region, metals which are essential for, among other applications, the manufacture of electric vehicles and wind turbines." It reported that the so-called Per Geijer deposit has mineral resources of rare earth metals exceeding 1 million tonnes of rare earth oxides, making it the largest known deposit of its kind in Europe. The company said the deposit could be larger and has already started to prepare a drift, several kilometers long, at a depth of approximately 700 meters in the existing Kiruna mine towards the new deposit "in order to be able to investigate it at depth and in detail." Industrial Info is already tracking 13 existing projects at LKAB's Kiruna mine. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports.

The major find was highlighted by Sweden's Minister for Energy, Business and Industry, Ebba Busch. "Electrification, the EU's self-sufficiency and independence from Russia and China will begin in the mine. We need to strengthen industrial value chains in Europe and create real opportunities for the electrification of our societies. Politics must give the industry the conditions to switch to green and fossil-free production. Here, the Swedish mining industry has a lot to offer. The need for minerals to carry out the transition is great."

Jan Moström, president and group chief executive officer, LKAB, added: "This is good news, not only for LKAB, the region and the Swedish people, but also for Europe and the climate. This is the largest known deposit of rare earth elements in our part of the world, and it could become a significant building block for producing the critical raw materials that are absolutely crucial to enable the green transition. We face a supply problem. Without mines, there can be no electric vehicles."

No rare earth elements are currently mined in Europe, which is completely dependent on imports of these minerals. China dominates the market, which LKAB--in line with assessments by the European Commission (EC)--believes increases the vulnerability of European industry and threatens the transition to a clean energy economy. Last year, Industrial Info reported that a shortage of rare earth minerals was a global issue. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) (Paris, France), the global effort to combat global warming could be imperiled by the supply, demand and price for a number of critical minerals that play key roles in the transition to a clean energy economy. The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions report highlighted minerals including chromium, copper, major battery metals (lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite), molybdenum, platinum group metals, zinc, rare earth elements and others. For additional information, see May 5, 2021, article - IEA Report Identifies Critical Minerals as a Weak Spot in the Energy Transition.

The Kiruna discovery will take a lot of work to get from discovery to mining, LKAB's Moström noted. "We are already investing heavily to move forward, and we expect that it will take several years to investigate the deposit and the conditions for profitably and sustainably mining it. We are humbled by the challenges surrounding land use and impacts that exist to develop this into a mine and that will need to be analyzed to see how to avoid, minimize and compensate for it. If we look at how other permit processes have worked within our industry, it will be at least 10-15 years before we can actually begin mining and deliver raw materials to the market."

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).