This makes them “critical for the transition to a sustainable economy”, emphasizes Swedish energy minister Ebba Busch. The exact size of the mineral resources in Kiruna in northern Sweden is not yet clear, but according to LKAB it concerns at least one million tons of ore. This means that Sweden can meet a significant part of future European demand, says LKAB CEO Jan Moström.
The extraction of the rare minerals, so-called REEs, is in danger of being halted because it takes a long time to obtain a permit. LKAB thinks it will be ready within a few years, but according to Moström, a permit can easily take ten to fifteen years. The EU has also been insisting for some time on speeding up these procedures.
