Norway discovers Europe's largest deposit of rare earth metals (CNBC)

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Published Tue, Jun 11 20247:01 AM EDT Updated Tue, Jun 11 202410:04 AM EDT
Sam Meredith


Mining firm Rare Earths Norway says it has discovered Europe’s largest proven deposit of highly prized rare earth elements, potentially reflecting a watershed moment for both the Nordic country and the broader region.

One of the few deposits not owned or controlled by China, the discovery of continental Europe’s largest rare earths deposit is considered a welcome boost in Europe’s bid to break China’s rare earths dominance.

Demand for rare earths and critical minerals is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years as the clean energy transition picks up pace.

Rare Earths Norway said in a June 6 statement that its Fen Carbonatite Complex in the southeast of the country boasts 8.8 million metric tons of total rare earth oxides (TREOs) with a reasonable prospect for economic extraction.

Within the TREOs, which are considered vital to the global shift away from fossil fuels, the company says there is an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of magnet-related rare earths which can be used in electric vehicles and wind turbines.
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more: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/11/norway-discovers-europes-largest-deposit-of-rare-earth-metals.html

Eclipsing this news from last year:
Sweden finds Europe’s largest deposit of rare earth metals, which could become ‘more important than oil and gas'


For those who are unaware, the study of rare earth elements was initiated in part by Finnish chemist Johan Gadolin (born when Finland was still part of Sweden), who discovered Yttrium in an ore sample from a feldspar mine in Ytterby (then in Sweden) given to him by Carl Axel Arrhenius, and named "Ytterbite" by the latter. While not one of the lanthanide (f-block) elements, Yttrium, like Scandium, is considered a "rare earth metal". Ytterbite was soon renamed "Gadolinite" in his honor. The discoverers of another rare earth metal, element no. 64, named it "Gadolinium" in his honor. Ytterby would go on to give its name (or parts thereof) to three more elements -- Ytterbium, Terbium, and Erbium. So finding rare earths in Scandinavia is hardly a new thing!

The discovery of ytterbite was the first step in a long process of investigations by many scientists in different countries. The identification of new "earths" extended over 100 years, and eventually led to the understanding of elements and their relationships in the periodic system.[12][19] Ytterbite was eventually found to contain eight stable rare earth elements (terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, and yttrium). Most of the remaining rare earths were found in the mineral cerite, which contains seven rare earth elements (cerium, lanthanum, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, europium, and gadolinium).[4][19]

The "missing" element, Promethium, has only radioactive isotopes, too short-lived to persist in Earth's crust. It was first discovered in fallout from a nuclear test, hence the name.