The tunnel would save Europe – now it is threatened

Four threats to the tunnel that could save Europe

Kiruna

Niclas Vent

Updated 08.54 | Published 06.26

KIRUNA. The rare metals that could save Europe are now just a few meters away.

But the problems that could sink the entire mining project are still not close to being solved.

– I am happy if we can be up and running in ten years. The question is whether we have that time, says Niklas Johansson at LKAB.

Quick version

• China dominates the refining of rare earth metals, which poses a security threat to Europe, which depends on these metals for modern technology and the defense industry.
• The Per Geijer deposit in Kiruna contains large amounts of rare earth metals and other valuable minerals, which could reduce Europe's dependence on China, but extraction is still in its early stages and faces several obstacles.
• Government support and faster permit processes are needed to make the project economically viable, according to the company.

973 meters down in the ground, at the end of a 2,900-meter-long tunnel, a lone man sits in a drilling rig.

Here at the end of the world, he knocks dozens of five-meter-deep holes into the waste rock in front of him every day.

Every evening, the holes are filled with explosives. Every morning, the blasted rubble is hauled away. The exposed tunnel vault is sprayed with at least seven millimeters of liquid concrete, three-meter-long rock bolts are driven in for extra stability, and it can all start again.

 

 

The tunnel to Per Geijer began drilling on October 26, 2022. More than three years later, it has advanced about 2,900.
2 / 2Photo: Björn Lindahl

It droppar som av ett stilla regn från taket. It drips like a quiet rain from the roof. The ground is covered in a decimeter-deep white-brown slime. One of the reinforcement holes in the wall has punctured an underground spring and a strong stream of water rushes out into the darkness of the passage.

This is how Sweden's perhaps most important tunnel grows, slowly but steadily, five meters every day, and after just over three years of work, it has just reached a first milestone.

Straight ahead of us, the enormous Per Geijer deposit spreads out.

Here is iron ore, phosphorus and not least: All 17 rare earth metals, the elements that have ended up right at the center of geopolitics.

Today, no one has been closer to the deposit than we are, and where we are standing, work has just begun on branching the tunnel in two.

Two long underground arms will enclose the enormous treasure found here, metals that can save Europe from an increasingly dangerous dependence on China - but which may never be extracted.

– When we look at this, we don't feel: Yes, it's just a matter of running! We'll have to grind and work on this to make sure we don't lose money. It's not obvious that it will be profitable, says Niklas Johansson.

He is Director of External Relations and sits on LKAB's Group Management, when he hasn't taken us deep into the rock today in high boots, work coat and construction helmet to show us the tunnel towards Per Geijer.

In mining parlance, what is being drilled towards Per Geijer is not called a tunnel, but an investigation site. "What is under Per Geijer is a hope," says production manager Jim Lidström. "But we got it from the section that handles the signs. I asked if they couldn't write something other than just 'U-ort',".

 

In mining parlance, what is being drilled towards Per Geijer is not called a tunnel, but an investigation site. “What is written under Per Geijer is a hope,” says production manager Jim Lidström. “But we got it from the section that handles the signs. I asked if they couldn’t write something other than just ‘U-ort’,”. Photo: Björn Lindahl

Rare earth metals have very specific properties and are therefore found in very small quantities in almost all modern technology, often in the form of permanent magnets.

435 kilograms in an F-35 fighter jet, 1–2 kilograms in an electric car, maybe a few grams in a smart phone.

Not much of them is needed – but without them it is hardly possible to do anything.

FACTS 

Permanent magnets

Permanent magnets create a magnetic field without consuming energy. They are often irreplaceable in electric car engines, wind turbines, industrial robots and defense equipment. The different rare earth metals have different specific properties that make them suitable for different things in production. Neodymium is used to make small, strong magnets while Samarium can withstand high temperatures, for example.

Of the 20 million tonnes of permanent magnets EU industries buy each year, 17–18 million come from China, and only around 1 million are produced in the EU.