TELF AG evaluates Swedish rare earths potential
A large deposit in Northern Europe
New mineral discoveries are invariably greeted with great enthusiasm, mainly if the new reserves are rich in the particular mineral resources needed for the global energy transition. In some cases, however, these initial enthusiasms could be attenuated, or even wholly extinguished, particularly when they have to deal with administrative and bureaucratic realities. In Europe, many years can pass from the discovery of a new deposit to the actual extraction of mineral resources due to the slowness of the bureaucratic machine and the delays due to the authorizations to start the works. In this situation, the development of the European mining industry could risk slowing down and losing all the competitive advantages linked to discovering new mineral resources.
Something similar happened a few months ago when a Swedish company declared that it had discovered the largest European deposit of rare earths, a group of 17 elements that are increasingly important due to their possible uses in numerous green technologies, such as electric vehicles. Faced with a discovery of this kind, it would be all too simple to predict that Europe could create a chain of internal extraction and production of these resources, freeing itself from dependence on imports of rare earths from other nations. However, achieving this goal may take a long time.
Global perspectives
The CEO of LKAB, the Swedish mining company to which the discovery is attributed, told the New York Times that this is, in any case, good news, in particular for the Swedish domestic economy but also for the entire Europe and the global prospects linked to climate neutrality. The rare earth deposit was found in Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost town, and according to company estimates, it contains around one million tonnes of these precious resources. According to the company, it could take up to 15 years to commercialize these materials.
Over the last ten or fifteen years, the global importance of rare earths and their possible industrial applications has grown in parallel with the emergence of new technologies capable of spreading clean energy, considered of great importance for achieving the objectives linked to decarbonization. In addition to electric vehicles, rare earths can be used to manufacture wind turbines, thus leading to a great increase in global demand for these materials. The almost undisputed leader in this sector is China, which has developed an exceptional capacity to extract and process these precious elements over the years. However, before Europe can join Beijing as one of the world’s leading producers of rare earths, it may be necessary to quickly develop all the infrastructure and capabilities required to obtain a product that the industry can use.
To overcome this problem, LKAB has recently become the largest shareholder of a Norwegian company specialized in the separation of rare earths, REEtec, a move which (in addition to maintaining these important processes on European soil) aims at the creation of a new plant for the processing of rare earths in Sweden, thus accelerating the valorization of the latest discovery.
