Swedish company LKAB has discovered what is believed to be Europe’s largest rare earth deposit, promising a crucial boost to the continent’s trade security and green transition.
“Rare earth metals” are a group of 17 chemical elements composed of scandium, yttrium and lanthanides. Contrary to their name, rare earth metals are abundant; their rarity stems from the complexity of their extraction, separation and refining, which can generate toxic and radioactive waste, have a negative impact on the environment.
But despite their environmental hazards, they are crucial to the manufacture of many high-tech products. This ranges from household items (TVs, computers and smartphones) to medical equipment (X-ray and MRI scanning) and defense systems (jets and night vision technology, among others).
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In particular, they are also essential for the clean energy transition, as they are part of the magnets used in electric cars and wind turbines.
Without its own mining, the EU input 98% of its supply of rare earth metals from China, which houses the largest part of the world reserve and is the largest global supplier.
However, the discovery of LKAB could be a game changer. The state company said that it has found a deposit – called Per Geijer – of more than a million tons in the Kiruna area, located in Lapland within the Arctic Circle.
“Electrification, EU self-sufficiency and independence from Russia and China will start in the mine,” Swedish Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry Ebba Busch said in a statement. pronunciation.
“We need to strengthen industrial value chains in Europe and create real opportunities for the electrification of our societies. Politics must provide the industry with the conditions to switch to green and fossil-free production,” she noted.
Reducing dependence on foreign supply chains and ensuring access to critical raw materials is an integral focus of the EU agenda, as is Europe’s goal of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
“Lithium and rare earths will soon become more important than oil and gas,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. stressed out during a speech in September. “Our demand for rare earths alone will increase fivefold by 2030,” she added, stressing the need to avoid becoming dependent on oil and gas.
In the same vein, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton underlined the need for action. “Take China, with its virtual monopoly on rare earths and permanent magnets and prices that have increased by 50-90% in the last year alone,” he said. wrote. “The supply of raw materials has become a real geopolitical tool.”
While LKAB is already investing heavily in the project moving forward, President and Group CEO Jan Moström emphasized that there is still a long way to go. He expects it will take several years to examine the deposit, assess its profitability and evaluate the sustainability and environmental impact of the mining process. After that, LKAB can proceed to an application for an environmental permit and a permit application.
“If we look at how other permitting processes have worked within our industry, it will be at least 10 to 15 years before we can actually start mining and bringing raw materials to the market,” explains Moström.
Provided LKAB finds a way to reduce the environmental costs of mining, the Per Geijer deposit could give Europe a boost to ensure domestic supply of critical raw materials and facilitate the green transition.
