ULEFOSS: As Europe seeks to curb its dependence on China for rare earths, plans to mine the continent’s biggest deposit have hit a roadblock over fears that mining operations could harm endangered beetles, mosses and mushrooms.
A two-hour drive southwest of Oslo, in the former mining community of Ulefoss home to 2,000 people, lies the Fensfeltet treasure: an estimated 8.8 million tons of rare earths.
These elements, used to make magnets crucial to the auto, electronics and defense industries, have been defined by the European Union as critical raw materials.
“You have rare earths in your pocket when you carry a smartphone,” said Tor Espen Simonsen, a local official at Rare Earths Norway, the company that owns the extraction rights.
“You’re driving with rare earths when you’re at the wheel of an electric car, and you need rare earths to make defense materiel like F-35 jets,” he added.
