Europe’s largest deposits of rare earth metals have been discovered in the Telemark region of Norway, the Rare Earths Norway (REN) mining company announced on Thursday.The company revealed that the new deposits found in the Nome municipality, 150 kilometers southwest of Oslo, contain an estimated 8.78 million tons of rare earth metals, such as neodymium and praseodymium oxide.
These elements are crucial for manufacturing batteries, wind turbine generators, and military equipment. Currently, China dominates the supply of these metals.
REN, which has been conducting drilling operations for the past three years, stated it could commence mining by 2030, aiming to meet 10% of the increasing demand for rare earth metals. REN’s CEO, Alf Reistad, highlighted the significance of this discovery by suggesting that Norwegian metals might become more valuable to Europe than the country’s exported gas.
This Norwegian discovery surpasses a similar find in Kiruna, northern Sweden, made in 2023, which was previously considered the largest in Europe. The Swedish discovery had sparked a debate about speeding up the complex environmental permitting process required to open a new mine and influenced the creation of the EU’s strategy on critical metals.
Rare earth metals comprise a group of 17 elements, including lanthanum, praseodymium, neodymium, and lutetium. "Source:Telewizja Polska S.A."
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