Swedish miner LKAB announced Thursday it has identified Europe’s largest known rare earth deposit in the Kiruna area, where it has been mining iron ore for over 130 years, Kallanish reports.

The company estimates mineral resources at the Per Geijer deposit to be over 1 million tonnes of rare earth oxides, although it notes further investigation is needed. The plan is to apply for an exploitation concession later this year to kickstart a process that could take at least 10-15 years for mining and deliveries to commence, it adds.

“This is the largest known deposit of rare earth elements in our part of the world, and it could become a significant building block for producing the critical raw materials that are absolutely crucial to enable the green transition,” comments LKAB ceo Jan Moström. “We face a supply problem. Without mines, there can be no electric vehicles.”

LKAB expects the deposit to make a large contribution towards increasing the EU’s rare earth self-sufficiency, maintaining competitive advantage of the bloc’s automotive industry, whilst reducing Chinese reliance. An EV uses around 0.5-2 kilos of permanent magnets containing rare earth elements neodymium and praseodymium, depending on the size of the motor and permanent magnet, the miner notes.

Preparations have started for a drift in the existing Kiruna mine towards the new deposit to enable further investigation. LKAB says that whilst it’s “investing heavily to move forward,” determining the profitability and sustainability of a future mining operation will be challenging.

“We must change the permit processes to ensure increased mining of this type of raw material in Europe. Access is today a crucial risk factor for both the competitiveness of European industry and the climate transition,” argues Moström.

Swedish energy, business and industry minister Ebba Busch highlights that “electrification, the EU’s self-sufficiency and independence from Russia and China will begin in the mine.” The official, who’s also Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister, adds: “We need to strengthen industrial value chains in Europe and create real opportunities for the electrification of our societies. Politics must give the industry the conditions to switch to green and fossil-free production. Here, the Swedish mining industry have a lot to offer.”

LKAB is targeting initial rare earth production in 2027 as part of a circular industrial park it’s developing in Luleå to extract and process the minerals alongside phosphorus and fluorine. These are all by-products of its iron ore production.