What you should know about Sweden’s massive new rare earth metal find
Products ranging from smartphones to electric vehicles and even military jets require these rare earths, which are not currently mined in Europe, the company said. Much of the world’s supply comes from China, which has used them as a geopolitical tool.
LKAB chairman Jan Mostrom said in a statement that the find could be a “significant building block” for Europe, which is facing a “supply problem”. But the company also said it would take at least a decade before the discovered rare earths hit the market.
Here’s what to know about this major discovery and what it means for Western consumers.
What are rare earths and where are they found?
Rare earths are actually not that rare. They are a group of 17 chemical elements, composed of scandium, yttrium and lanthanides, according to the US Geological Survey.
But mining rare earths is complex, because the supply is not concentrated in one place. Mining them also affects the environment, as their ores can be laced with radioactive materials such as thorium and uranium. Refining the minerals can generate toxic and radioactive wastewhich poses environmental and health risks if not disposed of properly.
Hosted by China the majority of the world’s reserve of rare earth metals and is the world’s leading supplier. (The United States was the largest producer several decades ago.) While Brazil and Vietnam have significant reserves, they are far behind when it comes to mining them.
Access to the minerals became a problem in trade war with China under the administration of President Donald Trump. Beijing threatened to cut off exports to the US in 2019 in retaliation for Trump’s actions, pushing up prices and prompting Trump to sign an executive order increasing domestic production. The Biden administration has also pushed for investment in that supply chain.
Other countries have also moved to reduce their dependence on China. Australia is spending millions to develop a rare earth mine and processing facility in its northern territory.
What are rare earths used for?
Several household items, including televisions, computers, smartphones and lighting use rare earths. Yttrium and europium, for example, light up iPhone screens and make them vibrate.
They are also important parts of USA made defense system, including night vision technology, jet aircraft and armored vehicle alloys.
Rare earths are critical to the global clean energy transition, as they are components of the magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines – although some companies have recently developed motors for electric vehicles which do not require rare earths.
What does Sweden’s discovery mean for the climate?
LKAB’s findings were welcomed in Europe, which has faced energy challenges in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The European Union also has a goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050.
In September, a senior EU official said so Europe’s climate ambitions were in jeopardy without reliable supply chains. “Take China, with its quasi-monopoly on rare earths and permanent magnets and prices have risen by 50-90% in the last year alone,” wrote Thierry Breton, an EU commissioner. “Commodity supply has become a real geopolitical tool.”
The European Raw Materials Alliance notes that while the European Union has a huge electric motor manufacturing sector, it “is almost entirely import dependent” for rare earth permanent magnets.
Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said on Thursday that Europe’s independence from Russia and China would begin with this mine.
Political leadership on the continent, she said, “must give industry the conditions to transition to green and fossil-free production.”