Sweden discovers the largest known rare earth metal deposit in Europe
Swedish state mining operator LKAB announced on Thursday the discovery of a large rare earth deposit in the northern city of Kiruna, which could potentially reduce dependence on China for electric vehicle components.
The find, the largest such discovery in Europe, corresponds to more than 1 million tons of rare earth metal oxides, according to LKAB.
“This is the largest known deposit of rare earths in our part of the world, and it can become an important building block for producing the critical raw materials that are absolutely essential to enable the green transition. We are facing a supply problem. Without mines, it can there are no electric vehicles,” said LKAB’s president and CEO Jan Moström in one statement.
The discovery could be a game-changer for Europe, which currently has no rare-earth mining operations and is entirely dependent on Chinese imports for the metals, which are used to make wind turbines and electric cars. As of 202099 percent of imports of rare earth metals into the EU came from China.
Demand for the minerals is expected to increase as the spread of electric vehicles increases, with the EU expecting a more than five-fold increase by the end of the decade. Europe is particularly wary of import dependence after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 showed the EU’s dependence on Russian oil imports.
The company emphasized that it will take time before the deposit can produce any useful raw materials.
– If we look at how other permit processes have worked in our industry, it will take at least 10-15 years before we can actually start mining and deliver raw materials to the market, says Moström.
The U.S., meanwhile, has also been trying to wrest some rare earth market share from China. In September, the Department of Energy announced $156 million in funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law to create a processing facility for the minerals. While the United States has a single rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, California, no such processing facility currently exists.