Sweden Blockbuster Discovery of rare metals crucial to electric vehicles: Here’s what we know
Top row
A Swedish mining company announced this week that it had discovered more than a million tons of rare earths near a mining pit in the far north, giving the state-owned company a potential windfall and offering hope to countries (including the United States) eager to use the metals for the production of wind turbines and electric vehicles – but is heavily dependent on China for them.
Key facts
In a statement on Thursday LKAB, a state-owned mining company, said it found “significant deposits” near a mine it operates near Kiruna city – the largest deposit of its kind in Europe.
The metals, which are not mined in Europe, according to the company, are essential in the production of common household electronics such as televisions, computers and smartphones, as well as electric vehicles and wind turbines, as well as defense systems, such as night vision technology and military jets.
The majority of the world’s supply of the metals is mined in China, which controls approx 60% of the world’s mining production and 85% of the processing of the metals.
The discovery comes amid an escalating trade war between the US and other Western countries with China-China threatened to end exports of rare metals to the US in 2019 – but nearly four-fifths of rare metals imported into the US between 2017 and 2020 came from China, according to US Geological Survey.
Former President Trump issued one executive order 2020 to increase domestic production of rare earths, and last year President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to try to stimulate discovery and mining of the minerals.
LKAB CEO Jan Mostrom called the discovery a “significant building block” for mining the raw metals that are “absolutely crucial to enabling the green transition.”
Key background
The discovery could also provide a significant boost to the production of electric vehicles and other green energy technologies, which are largely dependent on Chinese production of rare earth metals. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act passed last year earmarked 370 billion dollars for solar energy, wind and electric vehicle subsidies, which rely heavily on the continued availability of these metals. In October, the EU announced that it had reached an agreement with the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament prohibit traditional non-electric vehicles by 2035. California regulators, meanwhile, approved a ban on the sale of new gas-powered vehicles in the state until 2035.
Surprising fact
LKAB officials said they do not know the full extent of the deposit and that it could take years to complete an investigation into its size as well as how best to mine it. The mining company, which operates a pit nearby, has begun work on a passage, called a “drift,” that would extend “several kilometers” from its existing mine to the deposit, at a depth of nearly half a mile below the surface.
What to look for
When mining can actually begin. The company said it could be 10 to 15 yearsaccording to New York Timesbefore the metals could ever make it to market.
Crucial quote
Europe’s “self-sufficiency and independence from Russia and China will begin in the mine,” Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Business and Industry Ebba Busch said in a statement on Thursday.
Further reading
Sweden says it has uncovered a rare earth species Bonanza (New York Times)
Sweden finds rare earth metals that could benefit Western consumers (The Washington Post)
Sweden’s LKAB finds Europe’s largest deposit of rare earth metals (Reuters)