A deposit of two precious rare earths found in Finland
Two rare earth minerals have been found in Finland for the first time, in what could be a boost to Europe's supply of critical minerals needed for the energy transition.
The Finnish Minerals Group said Monday that Sokli and the Geological Survey of Finland have identified two new minerals, kukharenkoite and cordylite , through mineralogical characterization, the first such deposits identified in the country.
The mineralogical analysis, recently completed, was intended to trace the presence of rare earth elements (REEs) in the minerals. Kukharenkoite and cordilite are minerals from which the rare cerium is obtained. Cerium and its alloys are used in the creation of rare alloys and as oxides they have use as semiconductors.
Sokli is the world's largest carbonatite deposit, the company said, a type of mineral conglomerate rich in rare earths. “According to the results of our scoping study, Sokli could produce at least 10% of the amount of REE needed annually in Europe for the production of permanent magnets,” he added.
The Finnish Minerals Group said drilling is underway in areas where the new minerals are known to occur.
“These discoveries represent a further step towards achieving our goal of exploiting this unique mineral deposit to safeguard Europe's self-sufficiency in raw materials,” said project director Pasi Heino.
“The Western world's commercial opportunities associated with ETRs are growing, and magnet manufacturing is a major way to promote the use of renewable energy and the electrification of transportation.”
Europe and the United States are seeking to reduce their dependence on China for minerals critical to accelerating clean energy.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China has a preponderant role in the global supply chain of clean energy technologies, which brings another set of energy security concerns due to the strong concentration geography of supply chains for both technology and critical minerals.
Earlier this year, Swedish mining company LKAB announced that it had identified significant deposits of rare earth elements in the Kiruna area of Sweden, near Finland, in what is the largest known deposit of its kind in Europe.
The Nordic countries, particularly Greenland, Norway, Sweden and Finland, are rich in a variety of rare earth elements and this could be a crucial supply source for Western countries. At the same time, the problem for rare earths is not only the creation of mines, but also refining them to a high level of purity.
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The article A deposit of two precious rare earths found in Finland comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/trovato-in-finlandia-un-giacimento-di-due-terre-rare-preziose/ on Tue, 31 Oct 2023 09:00:42 +0000.