The largest rare earth deposit in Europe contains approximately 8.8 million tonnes of rare earth, essential materials for the green transition. Here’s where it is.
Norway relaunches on rare earths. It is here that the largest largest rare earth deposit in Europe was discovered, as reported by Rare Earth Norway, the Fensfeltet deposit contains as many as 8.8 million tonnes of these metals essential for the ecological transition.
A deposit of such dimensions as to surpass that of Kiruna in Sweden, which should contain between 1 and 2 million tons and whose discovery had sparked great hopes for being able to compete and emancipate from China.
Beijing controls over 60% of the supply of these metals, which are indispensable in many technologies for the energy transition, but also in hi-tech and the defense sector.
The field in Norway could therefore effectively reverse the fate of the market, ensuring that for the most part, Europe will definitively emancipate itself from China. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
The largest rare earth deposit in Europe is in Norway
To date, rare earths are one of the most difficult materials to find, the most critical and Europe has not yet produced a gram of them, but something could change with the deposit discovered in Norway.
Rare Earth Norway (REN) has declared that in the Fen complex - an area about a hundred kilometers from Oslo - there could be 8.8 million tonnes of rare earth oxides, at least four times more than what is believed to contain the Swedish Kiruna field.
The estimates presented yesterday by REN are still preliminary, and therefore there are no guarantees on the volumes that can then actually be extracted and processed. But REN said it was optimistic, assuming it could invest around 870 million euros by 2030 to start the first phase of development.
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The ultimate objective of the Norwegian company is to be able to create a complete supply chain, which starts from the "mine" and reaches the production of the "magnet" with low environmental impact.
A supply chain, which according to Norway’s optimistic plans, could satisfy 10% of EU needs, in line with the objective of self-sufficiency for at least 10% of critical materials, as established by the Critical Raw Materials Act (Crma).
And if many might argue that Norway is not an EU country, it is also true that this country has a privileged status since it belongs to the European Economic Area and therefore Europe would be its first customer, just look at how it is has become the most important supplier of gas since the EU cooled its relations with Russia. And it is the CEO of REN himself, Alf Reistad, who reassures Europeans:
The resource estimate highlights the deposit’s potential to be a truly transformative asset, capable of supporting the development of a secure value chain for rare earths in Europe
Rare Earths Norway has speculated that mining in the Fen Complex could begin in 2030 with an investment of around €867 million for the initial phase alone.
And if this rare earth mineral deposit is found on land, we must not forget that Norway has already voted "yes" to deep sea mining, which is the exploitation of mineral resources on the ocean floor at great depths. However, it is not clear how deep sea extraction will be carried out because the technology is still in its early stages. All that remains is to understand whether this new field could change the Norwegian government’s position regarding the exploitation of the seabed, for which it has been harshly criticized.
Original article published on Money.it Italy 2024-06-09 12:28:06. Original title: Il più grande giacimento di terre rare è stato scoperto in Europa, ecco dove
