In the Kiruna area, on the Arctic side Swedenand may play a decisive role in the attempt of the Old Continent to become independent from China and its near-global monopoly on specific raw materials.

According to the state-controlled Swedish mining group LKAB, the deposit is a major mining area containing at least one million tons of rare earth oxides. Although it will be a long time before the field is exploited, the discovery is of great importance for Europe. It comes at a time when the Old Continent is concerned about its dependence, especially on China, the world’s largest producer, for the supply of these ores, which are mainly used to make batteries for electric vehicles and wind turbines. According to Jan Moström, managing director of the LKAB public group that discovered the deposit, “This is the largest known deposit of rare earth elements in our part of the world, which can become the basis for the production of an extremely important raw material. for the green transition. Finally referring to Europe, Mr. Mostrem emphasized that “we are facing a supply problem. Without mines, there can be no electric vehicles.”

It is of strategic importance for the independence of the Old Continent from China in the metals used in electric vehicles and computers.

However, the Swedish company warned that there is a long way to go before the field can be exploited, with Mr. Mostrem stressing that LKAB estimates that “it will take many years to study the field and the conditions for profitable and sustainable exploitation.” When asked at a press conference when the first mining operations are expected to begin, he replied that this would largely depend on the speed of obtaining a mining license, specifying that experience shows that this will probably take 10-15 years. For her part, Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Eba Busch, stressed that “the transition to electric mobility, self-sufficiency and EU independence against Russia and China will begin with this mine.” At the same time, he added that “it is necessary to strengthen value chains in Europe and create real opportunities for the transition of our societies to electricity.” Therefore, he called on the political leaders of European countries to offer the industry the necessary conditions for production with environmentally friendly means and without the use of fossil fuels. The announcement was made on the occasion of the visit of the European Commission delegation to Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU. year to date.

Rare earth metals are 17 metals needed for electric vehicles, computers and smartphones, catalysts and strong magnets. Until now, China has a near-global monopoly on rare earths, controlling about 80% of their mining and production. After all, China is also home to the world’s largest deposit of rare earths, with 800 million tons of metals. It should be noted that Neo Performance Materials, or Neo as it is more commonly known, will soon start mining a rare earth deposit in Greenland, which is run by the Greek Konstantinos Karagiannopoulos.