Record rare earth finds in Sweden: does that make Europe independent of China?

Called neodymium, praseodymium, cerium or dysprosium, they are indispensable to our digital world: the rare earth metals are used for the production of wind energy generators, flat screens, electric cars and much more. Rare earths are neither rare nor earth. There are 17 different metals.

By far the largest share of global production of rare earths comes from China. On Thursday, Swedish state mining group LKAB reported the largest known find in Europe, with a volume of more than one million tonnes. Is this the chance to break free from dependence on China? Jens Gutzmer, an expert in resource technology at Germany’s Helmholtz Institute, classifies the potential of the find.

The annual production of all rare earth metals is currently around 250,000 tons worldwide. According to Gutzmer, global production will continue to increase every year, increasing more than ten percent between 2021 and 2022.

According to LKAB, the amount of rare earths in Per Geijer in Sweden would be sufficient to cover a large part of future EU demand for permanent magnet production. But it takes time to get there.

The LKAB press release refers to a preparation time of ten to fifteen years. That is absolutely realistic, says Gutzmer. “On the one hand, the exploration of the Per Geijer deposit has not yet been completed, on the other hand, the regulatory and technical preparations and, in particular, all the necessary considerations for the environmental impact of a mining project in Europe usually take five to ten years,” says the expert.

So at least a decade until the first financing – against the background of rapid technical developments, that is a long period that can only be bridged by imports from China, among others. Or is there an alternative?

“An obvious alternative is the iron ore from the neighboring Kiruna mine. It produces many millions of tons of iron ore per year, which are very similar to those from the Per Geijer deposit. The ores also contain rare earth phosphates. However, these rare-earth metals are not separated today, but remain in the mine tailings,” says Gutzmer.

According to him, with the right technology, rare earth metals and phosphate could already be extracted from the residual flows produced. “If this were possible, it would make a difference to Europe’s rare earth supply as early as next year,” says the scientist.

But that’s theory. In practice, China is the master of rare earths and can use its supremacy as a political or strategic lever.

With about two-thirds of rare earth production, China dominates global production. At the time, according to a 2020 Commission report, the EU got 98 percent of its rare earth needs from China. So the dependency is huge.

Can the discovery in Sweden free us from this? Gutzmer: “In fact, the rare earth metals from the Per Geijer deposit could cover a significant part of the demand for rare earth metals in Europe in the future. But not only the mine at the Per Geijer deposit has to go into production, but also the technical problems that have to be solved by separating the rare earth metals from the raw material available there. »

According to Gutzmer, as a large and innovative mining company, LKAB has the potential to address these technological issues: “Technology development will take a few years. In that respect, with the ten-year lead time available, it is just the right time to move the technologies forward. develop for the processing of rare earth metals from the iron ore of the Per Geijer deposit.”

To cope with the Chinese, mining projects such as the one in Sweden should also be promoted from Brussels. This spring, the European Commission wants to propose measures to strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy in the field of important raw materials.

Rare earth metals can also be found in Germany. About ten years ago, a deposit was located 600 meters below the Saxon village of Storkwitz. Why is it not funded? Gutzmer explains, “The mining and processing doesn’t make economic sense.” This is also due to the way the metals are embedded in the earth. In the case of the Per Geijer deposit, it is the combination of iron ore (for steel production), phosphate (for fertilizer production) and rare earth metals that makes joint processing economically viable.

We are grabbing the Earth’s rare earth metals in massive quantities to build our digital future. But isn’t recycling worth it? Of course, this requires new technologies and new business concepts, says Gutzmer.

For the here and now, however, one must “recognize that global demand for rare earths and other high-tech metals is increasing rapidly. This cannot be covered by recycling previously used amounts. Here we will have to continue to use our natural raw material base.”

Material from the dpa and AFP news agencies

(t online)