Electric cars need batteries. But Sweden’s mines face obstacles when it comes to getting hold of critical minerals.
Talga Group Ltd. has been waiting for more than a decade to move forward with a graphite mine in Sweden that could supply enough battery material to power a million electric cars a year and reduce the continent’s dependence on China.
Yet the Australian company, after some signs of progress, has been in administrative limbo at its Nunasvaara South facility after a court date for an environmental permit was postponed until February. The slow process has caused the project to drag on since 2011.
“The fundamental problem we get is that there is this unlimited processing time,” said Martin Phillips, chief operating officer at Talga, which says graphite from its mine and refinery, which runs on renewable energy, will make the world’s greenest battery anode for electric vehicles. “It creates the challenge for us to continue financing our company while we wait for the Swedish authorities to make a decision.”
Two years ago, the EU highlighted Sweden’s vast mineral resources, which comprise about half of the 30 raw materials the bloc considers crucial to meeting its goals for green technologies such as EV batteries. Sourcing them from within the EU would ease dependence on China at a time when supply chain snags and geopolitical tensions are fueling a drive toward greater self-sufficiency.
But prospects for getting projects off the ground look more uncertain than ever because of a long permitting window and fervent local opposition, miners say.
While Sweden has a centuries-old history of extracting metals from the earth and ranks as Europe’s largest producer of iron ore, new projects have been marred by concerns about the environment and encroachment on the indigenous Sami population in the north – whose reindeer herding rights are crucial. to their livelihood.
– Mines always have a big impact on both the environment and other activities, such as reindeer husbandry and tourism, says Jonas Rudberg, spokesperson for the Nature Conservation Association, an environmental group.
In southern Sweden, a battle over rare earth mining in Norra Kärr – considered the most promising deposit of its kind in Europe – has spanned over a decade. Locals fear that a mine would not only destroy the surrounding farms and forests, but also pollute the nearby Vättern, the source of drinking water for 300,000 people.
Such accidents are not without precedent. In 2012, leaks from a tailings pond at the Talvivaara nickel mine in neighboring Finland released toxic levels of metals and uranium into nearby lakes and rivers in one of the country’s worst environmental disasters.
Industry executives say local problems risk standing in the way of wider technological changes that would help the environment and fight climate change.
“It’s a double standard,” says Roberto Garcia Martinez, CEO of Eurobattery Minerals, an exploration company that wants to develop sustainable and ethical mineral mines in the EU. “Everyone wants to drive electric cars, but we don’t want a mine in our backyard – and that has to change.”
The region’s painstaking progress toward a mining base capable of powering the EV transition contrasts with the speed with which battery cell maker Northvolt created an independent supply chain. The Swedish company, which gets graphite from China, has encouraged the development of domestic mines while funding research into alternative battery technology.
As electric car sales take off, the European Commission estimates that demand for lithium, a crucial ingredient in batteries, will increase by as much as 18 times by the end of the decade. Cobalt use will rise by about five times.
Rudberg said he hopes some demand for those commodities can be met through mines “where it won’t conflict with other interests.” He also emphasized the importance of other ways to make the green transition – such as battery recycling and reduced consumption.
“It’s a little unrealistic to imagine a future where the entire population of the world drives a Tesla,” Rudberg said. “Earth’s resources will not be enough.”
Sweden’s Ministry of Economy is conducting an investigation into how to streamline the permitting process to ensure a sustainable supply of “innovation-critical” metals and minerals. The review sought input from industry, legal and environmental experts, including Rudberg, and results are expected in October.
– The process scares away many who want to invest in Swedish mines, because it is so uncertain whether you will get permission or not, even if you do everything right, says Maria Suner, CEO of the Swedish Association of Mines, Mineral and Metal Producers.
Erika Ingvald at Sweden’s Geological Survey, who acted as an expert on the investigation, hopes that it will lead to a simpler process. As for the mines awaiting a decision, she said she is unsure when they can expect progress.
“It’s like playing the lottery,” she said. “It’s almost impossible to tell.”