Besides an iron ore mine, the Swedish State mining company LKAB has discovered a deposit of over 1 million tons of rare earths in the northern area of Kiruna, in Lapland. As we know, they are strategic minerals for the production of electric vehicles, wind turbines, chips and hi-tech products. However, until now they are not extracted in Europe, but most of them come from China. Therefore, might this discovery free Europe from this existing dependence on China?
Jan Mostrom, CEO of LKAB explained: «The important thing is that we can identify quite big deposits of this material here inside the European Union, because these materials will be vital for electrification. The deposit is “enormous” and represents a first step towards Europe’s self-sufficiency ».
Home Technology Materials Mega-deposit of rare earths discovered in Sweden: turning point for the EU?
