Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) Sweden has found a deposit of rare-earth elements in its northernmost municipality Kiruna.
Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB pointed out that it found more than one million tonnes of rare-earth oxides, the largest known deposit in Europe, according to Reuters reporting on Thursday.
Rare-earths are used in production of electronics, electric vehicles and other high-tech manufacturing processes and no deposits are currently exploited in Europe.
This leaves the EU dependent on imports as demand is projected to increase in the coming years due to digitalisation and environmental initiatives.
“This is good news, not only for LKAB, the region and the Swedish people, but also for Europe and the climate,” LKAB CEO Jan Moström pointed out in a statement.
“It could become a significant building block for producing the critical raw materials that are absolutely crucial to enable the green transition,” he stressed.
Ebba Busch, Sweden’s Minister of Energy, Business and Industry, added that “electrification, the EU’s self-sufficiency and independence from Russia and China will begin in the mine.”
Importance of self-sufficiency
The European Commission previously noted that China produces the majority of rare piles of earth, which the body considers among the most important resources for the bloc. The EU almost entirely covers its needs for rare earth with Chinese imports.
LKAB announced plans to apply for an exploitation concession this year but predicted that it will take 10 to 15 years to potentially start mining and shipping rare earths to the market.
Sweden has strict mining rules and applications for new exploitation are demanding due to laws on protection of water resources and biodiversity.
The country currently presides over the EU and is seen in the bloc as an important part of EU’s plan to become self-sufficient in production of important elements.
Erik Jonsson, a senior geologist at the Geological Survey of Sweden, pointed out that European countries do not have the capacity to process rare-earths and make intermediate products.
“We also need to focus on the entire value chain on these metals, products like high-efficiency magnets that we want to use for wind turbines or traction engines in EVs and so on,” he concluded.
