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Deposits of phosphates, titanium, vanadium in Norway will soon change the idea of ​​the world’s total reserves of these minerals on the planet, we are confident in the mining company Norge Mining. The British-Norwegian company on Tuesday, May 4, announced the size of one of its fields in the southwest of Norway. Geological exploration by the independent firm SRK Consulting has estimated reserves in the Storeknuten area of ​​up to 240 million tonnes of vanadium, titanium and phosphates.

Phosphate deposit discovered in the sparsely populated Eigersund region

This is the second Norge Mining announcement during 2021 of the discovery of a “world-class deposit” in the Bjerkreim-Sokndal region, which refers to particularly large reserves with strategic potential. Earlier in February, the company announced the possibility of commercial production at the neighboring Eigrey field, which SRK Consulting estimated at 1.79 billion tons of rare metals.

Norway is not yet on the world phosphate mining map

In total, Norge Mining holds 46 licenses for the development of deposits on a total area of ​​about 420 square kilometers in the Bjerkreim-Sokndal region in southwestern Norway. The volume of reserves of phosphate ore alone, according to the conclusions of independent appraisers, in the licensed area is at least 70-80 billion tons. Until now, the largest phosphate reserves were thought to be – by a wide margin – in Morocco, estimated at 50 billion tonnes of phosphate ore. Today, the largest exporters of phosphates to the world market are Morocco, Jordan, Egypt and the Russian Federation.

The minerals of the Bjerkreim-Sokndal intrusion reach a depth of at least 2,200 meters.  The maximum is 4500 meters.  Screenshot of video deposits

Minerals in Bjerkreim-Sokndal lie at a depth of at least 2200 meters, maximum – 4500 meters

The latest estimates, as > previously wrote, put Norway in first place in the world in terms of reserves of phosphates, titanium and vanadium – minerals included by the European Union in the list of “critical minerals”. They are considered systemically important to European economic and environmental policy, and they have to be imported to a large extent. Most often, the import of such minerals is complicated by the limited number of suppliers and problems with the reliability of supply.

Norway changes highway to extract phosphates

The Norwegian authorities have taken a significant step to facilitate production at the Bjerkreim-Sokndal field, Norge Mining emphasizes. In March 2021, the government announced that it would change the route of the E39 expressway to “avoid conflicts over reserves of national and international importance,” according to the government’s statement on March 17, 2021, posted on the official website. It was decided to build a high-speed road bypassing the deposit.

The start of production at the Norwegian phosphate deposit is planned no earlier than 2026. Now the company is looking for investors for the further implementation of the project – both the Norwegian authorities and the European Union can join the development of the field, Norge Mining did not rule out.

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