Gällivare iron ore mine, Kiruna rare earth deposit, and Lulea industrial site.
State-owned Swedish mining company Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag (LKAB) has submitted three applications for recognition as strategic projects under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). The three projects in the country’s north are an iron ore mine near Gällivare, the Per Geijer rare earth deposit near Kiruna, and an industrial site in the coastal city of Lulea, where LKAB wants to separate phosphorus and rare earths, among other things. The plant in Lulea will initially process material from Gällivare and eventually from Kiruna once the deposit is mined.
With the CRMA, the European Union aims to become less dependent on imports of critical raw materials by ramping up domestic mining, processing, and recycling efforts. Strategic projects benefit from an accelerated approval process, which, according to the legislators’ wishes, should only take a maximum of 27 months for mining projects and 15 for processing and recycling ones. The EU Commission will publish an initial list of projects classified as strategic in December.
The discovery of the rare earth deposit near Kiruna made headlines in early 2023 when it was classified as Europe’s largest. This title has since been taken away by neighboring Norway and the Fen deposit (we reported). Yet, both deposits are only in the exploration stages. It takes multiple years or even decades from the discovery of a deposit until it can actually be mined, as there are numerous steps in between.
More on the CRMA: In our white paper (PDF), in collaboration with TRADIUM GmbH and Adamas Intelligence, we examine the legislation’s provisions regarding rare earths and lithium and their feasibility.
Photo: iStock/qwerty01
