The Norwegian Mineral Rush

This year, Norway has benefitted from several substantial discoveries of minerals and rare earth metals. These discoveries include the now world’s biggest phosphate reserve, as well as substantial levels of rare earth metals and copper in the seabed. As a result, Norway will be able to exploit these hugely significant sources of minerals to further accelerate their economy. Regionally, Europe will also benefit by being able to purchase such metals from Norway, rather than traditional suppliers such as Morocco for Phosphate or China for rare earth metals – which were thought to own the majority of the Earth’s supply. These minerals will be used to produce parts for wind turbines, solar panels, fertilisers, electric batteries and more – which has created huge strategic interests around these reserves, and more broadly those found in the Arctic Ocean.

Norge Mining are the Norwegian mining firm responsible for excavating the newly discovered Phosphate deposit of around 70 billion tonnes. They have released a statement saying that this deposit will allow for a supply of at least 50 years, a breath of fresh air for the European Union who had the resource listed as a product of strategic importance. Furthermore, phosphate rock will allow for phosphorus production in Europe – allowing the continent to benefit from greater strategic autonomy. Around 90% of the world’s mined phosphorus is used in agriculture for production of fertilisers, for which there is no alternative. The remaining 10% is used for the production of renewable energy sources such as solar panels and electric batteries. Earlier this year, Norway had also discovered substantial levels of materials on its extended continental shelf. These materials include: 38 million tonnes of copper, 45 million tonnes of zinc, 24 million tonnes of magnesium, 3.1 million tonnes of cobalt and 1.7 million tonnes of cerium. Environmental groups such as WWF and Greenpeace have criticised the Norwegian Government’s move to open its waters to deep sea mining, focusing on the harm to the biodiversity of marine life on the sea beds. The Norwegian Government has responded in tune by saying that the excavation of these materials is critical to the success of Europe’s green transition. Nevertheless, 280,000 square kilometres of ocean are set to be opened to deep sea mining, pending further parliamentary discussions in the autumn.

Swedish mining company LKAB has also made an announcement early this year that they have discovered Europe’s largest deposit of rare earth metals. These materials are thought to be praseodymium or neodymium oxides, which are used to produce magnets used in electric vehicles. Despite the bureaucracy behind attaining further mining and exploration licenses, these developments further enable the European climate transition and the European Green Deal to reach fruition.

Following the Norwegian offshore discovery in January, the Kremlin has announced that Vladimir Putin has held talks with top security officials about expanding Russian claims to their continental shelf – which would ensure them undisputed access to more of the Arctic Ocean’s resources under The United Nation’s Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Such behaviour has warranted concern from Arctic neighbours such as Canada and Denmark, who each have their own claims. NATO activity in the Arctic has continued to expand in recent years, which has been met by a similar expansion of Russian military infrastructure in the region. Either way, these developments are sure to heat up the Arctic.