RTL Today – Rare metals in Sweden: What’s hiding under Luxembourg soil?
Sweden announced Thursday the discovery of the “largest known deposit” of rare earths in Europe, a small step towards more autonomy for the Old Continent anxious to reduce its dependence on China for these metals essential to the green transition.
“This is the largest known deposit of rare earth elements in our part of the world, and it could become an important building block for the production of critical raw materials absolutely crucial for the green transition,” rejoiced Jan Moström, CEO of the Swedish mining group LKAB at the origin of the discovery.
Asked about the expected date of the first pickaxes, Mr. Moström replied that it would depend on the demand from car manufacturers and the speed of obtaining the necessary authorizations which, according to his experience, would arrive “between 10 and 15 years “.
“I am convinced that this will have a considerable impact“to reduce dependence on China, he explained to AFP, estimating that the Kiruna deposit will be able to manufacture “a significant part” of the magnets used in the motors of electric cars produced in Europe on the horizon.
2035.
The two Luxembourg geologists Ben Thuy and Romain Meyer also thrived on this discovery, “good news for the west, because China also controls the whole market, so this could be a game-changer in the future“. Sweden will therefore be able to position itself as a major player in a current rather tense geopolitical context, especially in the context of their candidacy for NATO.
AND IN LUXEMBOURG?
Ben Thuy currently works as a paleontologist at the National Museum of Natural History, he explains that the presence of such a deposit of rare metals in the depths of Luxembourg is excluded, even if there is still some potential.
Romain Meyer, another Luxembourg geologist, explains that there are”other elements we are working on in Luxembourg at the moment, it might be time to check what we have as local resources and see how we can use them“.
According to him, the mining basin is the largest iron deposit that has formed in the last 500 million years on our planet, “Geologically, it was already the jackpot for Luxembourg“.
Romain Meyer is a geologist, his doctorate focused on rare metals in the seas. This is where the largest deposits would be found. During his thesis, he participated in the search for this kind of source in Bergen, where today researchers are still at work to discover a potential presence of precious metals.