Iron-ore miner LKAB says it has recognized “significant deposits” of uncommon earth parts in Arctic Sweden which can be important for the manufacture of electrical automobiles and wind generators.

The Swedish government-owned firm, which mines iron ore at Kiruna, almost 600 miles north of Stockholm, stated there are greater than one million tons of uncommon earth oxides.

“This is the largest known deposit of rare earth elements in our part of the world, and it could become a significant building block for producing the critical raw materials that are absolutely crucial to enable the green transition,” stated LKAB chief government Jan Mostrom.

“Without mines, there can be no electric vehicles.”

Ebba Busch, Sweden’s minister for power and enterprise, stated: “The EU’s self-sufficiency and independence from Russia and China will begin in the mine.

”We have to strengthen industrial worth chains in Europe and create actual alternatives for the electrification of our societies.

“Politics must give the industry the conditions to switch to green and fossil-free production.”

Rare earths attain into the lives of just about everybody on the planet, in every part from arduous drives and cellphones to lifts and trains.

They are particularly important to the fast-growing subject of inexperienced power, feeding wind generators and electrical automotive engines.

Exploration on the web site won’t begin for years even when permits are delivered rapidly.