2023-07-30 14:20:39
The company Tanbreez Mining plans to mine rare earths in Greenland next year. “We can start production as early as next year,” geologist and company owner Greg Barnes told Wirtschaftswoche magazine. Greenland’s deputy mining minister, Jörgen Hammeken-Holm, confirmed that a mining permit had been issued.
Barnes said the Tanbreez mine “holds more than half of the world’s rare earth reserves”. A total of 19 million tons of rare earth oxide. 30 percent of these are the extremely coveted heavy rare earths.
The rare earths include a total of 17 elements; the properties of the individual metals differ. Each of these metals has characteristics that make it valuable for industry. Some are irreplaceable. They are needed, for example, for the construction of electric cars or wind power generators.
Many rare earths come from China
Last year, Germany obtained around two-thirds of its rare earths from China. The mining of the metals is difficult and often harmful to the environment because rare earths are usually contained in compounds in ore strata. Chemical processes, often using acids, are required for extraction.
Tanbreez owner Barnes told Wirtschaftswoche that in order for mining to begin in Greenland, a factory that can extract rare earths from eudialyte rock is needed. Such systems are currently only available in Russia and China. In the next few months, however, a corresponding factory will be built in the USA. There are also plans for a production facility in Europe.
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Thanks to technical progress, the part of the plant that releases the rare earths only costs around 40 million dollars. China paid $1.7 billion for its plant 13 years ago, Barnes said.
In January, the Swedish state mining company LKAB reported the discovery of the largest known occurrence of rare earths in Europe. According to the company, the occurrence in Kiruna will only be available to the market in ten to 15 years.
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