Europe is one step closer to reducing its dependence on China. Discovering the continent’s largest rare earth deposits could be a game-changer

Rare Earths Norway, a mining company, has announced that it has discovered the largest proven deposit of rare earth elements in Europe, located in the fen carbonatite complex in southeastern Norway.

The discovery is considered a significant milestone for Norway and the European region, and an important step in Europe’s efforts to reduce its dependence on China for these important minerals.

Rare earth elements are vital to the global transition to clean energy used in technologies such as electric vehicles and wind turbines. According to Rare Earths Norway, the deposit contains 8.8 million metric tons of total rare earth oxides (TREOs), including about 1.5 million metric tons of magnetic rare earths. The company said the extraction of these minerals has a reasonable chance of economic viability, reveals ‘CNBC’.

The discovery at Fen is more than a significant deposit found in Sweden last year. Alf Reystad, CEO of Rare Earths Norway, highlighted the significance of the discovery, calling it a “huge milestone” for the company and for Europe, which currently does not extract rare earth elements.

The Norwegian discovery of rare earths is seen as a welcome boost in Europe’s fight to break China’s dominance of the rare earths market. Currently, China is responsible for 70% of global extraction and 90% of rare earth processing. In 2022, China was the largest supplier of rare earths to the European Union, accounting for 40% of imports by weight.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has warned that the current supply of rare earths is insufficient to meet the demand required for the transformation of the energy sector.

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Rare Earths Norway intends to continue exploration work at the Fen Complex, with excavation planned for next month. The company is focused on developing the first phase of mining by 2030, in line with the objectives of the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act.

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