Europe's Largest Rare Earth Deposit Has Been Discovered in Sweden

Sweden's state-owned mining company, LKAB, said on January 12 that it had discovered Europe's largest known deposit of rare earths near Kinura, the country's northernmost town. A significant deposit containing over 1 million tonnes of rare earth oxides has been discovered in northern Sweden at a depth of 540 metres near the Per Geijer deposit, an important iron ore producing area, the company said in a statement.

Preliminary exploration of the deposit, known as Per Geijer, is understood to indicate it contains 585 million tonnes of ore containing apatite, which contains phosphorus and other rare elements. LKAB believes 1m tonnes of deposits are oxides, including praseodymium or neodymium, which are used to produce permanent magnets for electric cars. Its rare earth concentration is 0.18% of stored ore, but its sheer volume makes it potentially "sustainable" to mine for industrial use.