Did Norway just find the industrial future in Telemark's bedrock?

In June this year, the mining company Rare Earths Norway (REN) called a press conference in Oslo to announce an important find in the Fen Complex.  

“We can document that this is Europe’s largest deposit of rare earth elements – with a good margin. This is world-class and a milestone not just for us, but also for the local community in Nome municipality, for Norway and for Europe,” said chief geologist at Rare Earth Norway Trond Wathne during the press conference.

And CEO Alf Reistad added:

“The minerals in the Fen Complex can become Norway’s most important contribution to Europe’s green transition.” 

He believes the export of rare earth minerals from Telemark can become more important for Europe than what Norwegian gas exports are today. 

There is currently great national and international interest in the Fen Complex. Alf Reistad recently welcomed Norway's Norwegian Minister for Trade And Industry Cecilie Myrseth. (Photo: Kanalen)

Rare Earths Norway has the right to exploit around 90 per cent of the Fen Complex deposit in Nome municipality.

Things have been particularly hectic for Reistad and his colleagues since June. Now “everybody” wants to visit Nome in Telemark. And most of the visitors support the development of the mineral industry in the Fen Complex. 

Even the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions LO and the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise NHO, which often disagree quite heftily, recently wrote an article in the local newspaper stating that “Fen has something the world needs!” 

Important part of the green transition

The need for rare earth minerals keeps increasing. EU estimates show demand will quintuple by 2030.  

Rare earth minerals are crucial for the production of the world’s strongest permanent magnets. Rare Earths Norway specialises in these magnet-related minerals, which the EU considers to be among the most critical raw materials in terms of supply security for European industry.

Core samples from the Fen Complex after diamond drilling to map the deposit. 

Without these minerals, there can be no production of EVs, wind turbines, mobile telephones or defence materials. So far we have made ourselves dependent on Chinese imports. The country has a near monopoly on both the extraction and processing of rare earth minerals. 

But China has already demonstrated, through export restrictions, that they can use minerals as leverage in international politics. That is why the EU and the USA are trying to become more self-dependent, developing their own mines, and increasing recycling. 

To speed all this up, the EU introduced the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) last spring (see facts). 

Many years before becoming operational

Ulefoss in Nome municipality is one of Norway’s oldest industrial communities with one of the oldest industrial companies in the Nordic region – Ulefoss Jærnverk.

Mining and ironworks have been active here since the 1600s. The mineral-rich Fen Complex provided ore to the ironworks. Throughout history, there have been different kinds of mining operations here. But in 1965 things came to an end.

Today, Ulefoss is a mining society without mining. 

But there is a lot of interest in the local society for a new mine, according to Alf Reistad at  Rare Earths Norway. This time it would be a subterranean mine (see illustration and explanation), which has also calmed down many mining sceptics.

The Fen Complex is in Nome municipality in Telemark county.

The initial goal was to open mining operations by 2030, but Reistad realises that might be too optimistic. A lot needs to be done and there are many state and political obstacles yet to navigate. 

One thing Reistad really wants to see is faster case processing. According to him, it takes twice as long to open a mine as it does to open an off-shore gas field. 

“Despite the many challenges, we are very confident this will be realised. Not least because of the geopolitical situation and the climate crisis. The question is only how quickly we can make it happen,” he says.

The goal is to have a pilot factory for test production in place in 2026. Innovation Norway recently granted 60 million Norwegian kroner (€5m) to the pilot project. 

Almost self-sufficient in the Nordic region

The documented deposit in Fen has turned out to be several times larger than the biggest deposit in Europe – which lies in Kiruna in Sweden.

“We have most of what we need in the bedrock in the Nordics. This is unique,” says Håkon Lind. He works for Nordic Innovation, an organisation under the Nordic Council of Ministers. For the past four years, he has been heading their Sustainable Minerals programme.

“From being an issue not many were interested in, it is now high on the political agenda,” adds his colleague Peter Munch-Madsen.

Håkon Lind and Peter Munch-Madsen work on the Sustainable Minerals programme for Nordic Innovation.  (Photo: Line Scheistrøen)

Critical raw materials have been discussed during the Nordic democracy festivals this summer. The programme has established the Nordic Forum on Raw Materials and participation is good. The forum is headed by Svemin, the Swedish Association for Mines, Mineral and Metal Producers. A conference was held recently in Stockholm and more seminars, conferences and podcasts are planned. 

A popular report

The program has four focus areas: Mapping, traceability, recycling and getting the network up and running. 

Nordic Innovation is the main facilitator. Among the programme partners are the Norwegian Geological Survey and similar organisations in the other Nordic countries. The Norwegian Directorate of Mining has also played a central role. 

The work on the programme is now coming to an end and has resulted in several reports. What started it all was a September 2021 report called “The Nordic Supply Potential of Critical Metals and Minerals for a Green Energy Transition”.  

Locations of deposits with known critical raw material resources and areas with known or assumed potential for additional CRM resources in the Nordic countries. Source: Nordic Innovation

The report maps the situation in the Nordic region.

“It has been downloaded 13,000 times,” says Lind.

The expected number of downloads of reports from Nordic Innovation is normally 1,000 to 1,500.

Recycling will be key

"This demonstrates the large and growing interest for this field among our readers," adds Peter Munch-Madsen.

The programme has also included a review of the recycling of critical raw materials. By 2030, the EU aims to achieve a recycling capacity of 25 per cent of its annual consumption of critical raw materials (CRMs).

“We know a lot about what can be found in the bedrock, but we know little about the value of what we have already extracted. If you for instance operate a copper mine for 100 years, there will still be cobalt in the waste, but what is the value of that and can it be used for anything? It was important for the programme to look at this,” says Lind. 

February this year saw the publication of the report “Recycling of Critical Raw Materials in the Nordics”.

The report states that there is potential for recycling hundreds of tonnes of CRMs. But this will require technology, money and time.

“Although the concept of a circular economy gets a lot of attention, there are still many critical raw materials where the recycling rate is practically zero,” the report states.