Originally published on Bloomberg.com on January 12, 2023 as “Swedish Miner Finds Europe’s Largest Rare Earth Deposit.”

The largest known deposit of rare earth minerals in Europe has just been discovered in Sweden’s Arctic, with potential to help the continent break free from China’s dominance on the market for the resources.

The deposit, found by Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB, contains more than 1 million tons of rare earths, according to a statement on Thursday. Work is still in an exploratory phase and the full extent of the deposit, just north of the company’s biggest mine in the Arctic town of Kiruna, is not known, LKAB said.

“It will be at least 10 to 15 years before we can actually begin mining and deliver raw materials to the market,” Chief Executive Officer Jan Mostrom said, citing a time line derived from other permitting processes in the industry. LKAB plans an application for an exploration concession this year, before seeking permits.

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