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Sweden's rare minerals: The big discovery with many questions

2023-01-24 19:57:48Biznes SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Sweden's rare minerals: The big discovery with many questions
Sweden's rare minerals: The big discovery with many questions

Millions of tons of rare minerals have been found in Sweden. Can the EU reduce imports from China? How long until these mines start working?

The Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB recently announced a super discovery: more than one million tons of rare minerals were found in the northern Swedish city of Kiruna.

The place, named Per Geijer, is located in the Swedish part of the Arctic Circle, which has been known for its rare earth treasures for several decades. The concern for the extraction of minerals LKAB already runs the largest iron mine in Europe.

Rare minerals, also known as rare earth metals or rare earth oxides, are a group of 17 heavy metals that are of particular importance in the production of renewable energies, as well as for environmental technologies and neutral production climate. They are required, among other things, for the production of wind turbines and electric vehicles.

Despite their name, rare earths are abundant in many parts of the world. But mining and extracting these materials is complex and expensive – as well as damaging to the environment.

Imports from China

Although the EU is highly dependent on these raw materials, rare earth elements are not currently mined and processed on an industrial scale in Europe. Until now, the raw materials have been mainly imported from China.

China has by far the largest reserves of rare earths in the world, followed by Vietnam, Brazil and Russia. China also ranks first in the systematization and processing of rare earths.

According to the US Geological Survey, as of January 2022, China accounted for more than 60 percent of total rare earth production, followed by the United States (16 percent), Myanmar (nine percent) and Australia ( eight percent).

Another superlative?

"The discovery is good news for Europe and for the climate," said LKAB executive director Jan Moström. The company estimates that the discovery is one of the largest of its kind in Europe and could become an important building block for climate-neutral production in the EU.

Geographer Julie Klinger is skeptical. “Whenever new deposits of rare earths are announced, superlatives are used. Therefore, it is important to look closely at the data," the professor of geography at the University of Delaware told DW.

"If you look at the headlines about rare earth deposits in Greenland, North Korea, Afghanistan, Turkey, on the seabed or even on the moon, they always claim that they are the largest or that they are one of the largest deposits," he added. she. The discovery in Sweden needs to be checked and evaluated.

Complex permit procedures

Even Nabeel Mancheri, Secretary General of the Global Rare Earth Industry Association, a nonprofit association of companies working with rare earths, is cautious. "From an economic point of view, these are not reserves yet," Mancheri told DW. "A lot of drilling and testing must be done. We do not yet have complete information on the quality of the ores.”

According to geographer Klinger, it can take ten to 15 years for a mine to become operational. "It's not just because of permits, although that's often blamed for that. It is a monumental structural and technical achievement to open a new mine,” she explains.

In the EU there are high obstacles in the rules for the extraction and production of important raw materials. Swedish mining company LKAB is now calling on the EU to speed up the permitting process in light of the recent discovery of rare earths.

"If we really want to promote climate-friendly production, we need to find ways to significantly speed up this process," explained LKAB director Jan Moström after the latest discovery.

Also important for fossil fuels

However, according to the secretary of the Mancheri association, starting to use a mine is only half the battle. "You also have to build the processing industry," he says, referring to the complex and very energy-intensive processes of isolating and processing rare earths.

Sweden's rare minerals: The big discovery with many questions

According to experts, this is a critical question because rare earths are also used in many polluting industries. "Although the public has always emphasized the importance of rare earths for green technologies, the raw materials are also important for oil refineries and military-industrial applications," says Klinger.

"There is currently no policy in the EU or anywhere else that protects materials and minerals from being used by other, less climate-friendly sectors," explains Klinger. Neither the Swedish state-owned company LKAB nor other mining companies are obliged to sell their production to companies in the renewable energy sector.

Klinger: "When companies like LKAB demand that the permit process be accelerated in the face of climate change, there should be EU regulations that prevent production from going to non-ecological sectors."/ DW


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