News, Press & Video

The new Per Geijer deposit contains up to eight times as much phosphorus compared to the orebodies currently mined by LKAB. With circular extraction of phosphorus and rare earth elements as by-products from iron ore mining, LKAB can potentially replace all imports of phosphorus to Europe from Russia. Phosphorus is one of three nutrients in mineral fertiliser and is necessary for our food production.

The Norwegian company REEtec AS has developed an innovative and sustainable technology for separation of rare earth elements that can compete with China’s dominating production of these materials. Now the first factory is to be built in Herøya, Norway. “LKAB plans to extract rare earth elements as a by-product from our iron ore mining. Together with REEtec, we will create the base for a strong and sustainable Nordic value chain for rare earth metals,” says Jan Moström, LKAB’s President and CEO.

By-products from iron ore mining will be extracted via innovative circular and fossil-free processes. · LKAB can increase Europe’s self-sufficiency in the critical raw materials phosphorus and rare earth elements that are needed for sustainable agriculture and the green transition · LKAB is now initiating consultation on the establishment, which will be operational in 2027 and can entail investments amounting to as much as 10 billion kronor and create more than 500 jobs.

The leading Swedish mining companies LKAB and Boliden have signed an agreement and will begin working together to investigate the possibility of extracting pyrite concentrate from mining waste at the Boliden Aitik mine, which LKAB will subsequently process into fossil-free sulphuric acid. The sulphuric acid will then be used in processes for extracting rare earth elements and phosphorus from LKAB’s mining waste.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfvén’s visit to Luleå today had the theme of new industrialisation and new green jobs in the north. Leif Boström, Senior Vice President, Business Area Special Products, disclosed that LKAB’s investment in extracting phosphorus and rare earth elements will create more than 500 jobs.

The European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) has released its Action Plan to secure access to Rare Earths for European industry. It concludes that 95% of electric vehicles use rare earths in traction motors and that Europe does not have any rare earth extraction.

The European Commission has adopted a regulation on new lower limit values ​​for cadmium in certain foods, which could benefit LKAB’s plans to extract phosphorus from mining waste.

Utilising side streams from our own and others’ industrial operations allows us to create new high quality, environmentally efficient products. “Already today, more than a third of LKAB’s sales of industrial minerals are from secondary streams of raw materials, generating over a billion kronor in income,” says David Högnelid, Chief Strategy Officer for Business Area Special Products.

After having dramatically ramped up exploration activities, LKAB can now present the positive result: significant phosphorus mineral resources. “With a circular business model, we have the potential to supply European farmers with fossil-free and cadmium-free phosphorus mineral fertiliser, and the cleantech industry with rare earth elements” says Leif Boström, Senior Vice President Business Area Special Products, LKAB.

“It’s a matter of achieving a sustainable raw-materials or materials supply. Here, ReeMAP is a good example,” says the national coordinator for Fossil Free Sweden, Svante Axelsson.