Norway turns attention toward critical mineral development

Norway has turned its attention toward developing its mining capabilities as Europe and the US seek to secure their supplies of energy transition minerals.

Demand for critical minerals is expected to remain strong through the medium term as clean energy technology grows in prevalence, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights' 2024 Commodities Outlook report. China dominates the processing of many key minerals, and the US and EU have made strategic decisions to find new sources of minerals from within allies' borders. Norway can help meet the needs of both.

The Norwegian government released a new mineral strategy in June 2023, outlining plans to market the country as a mineral supplier. The following spring, the Scandinavian country signed memoranda of understanding with the US and the EU to cooperate on critical mineral development. Norway is also a member of the Minerals Security Partnership.

"The government is really interested in pushing the energy transition," Egil Tjåland, secretary general of the Norwegian Forum for Marine Minerals and associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, told S&P Global Commodity Insights. "We have resources that can be useful for Europe and the rest of the world because of political tensions."

Full speed ahead

Norway's mineral production is currently dominated by industrial metals, but the country plans to accelerate exploration for battery metals. Norway's top-valued minerals in 2022 were iron ore, totaling $136 million in export value, titanium-bearing ilmenite, valued at $119 million, and quartz and quartzite, valued at $85 million, according to the Geological Survey of Norway.

"There has been a 25-year gap where metal mining has not been really important," Henrik Schiellerup, director of resources and environment at the Geological Survey of Norway, said in an interview. "We now see that new projects are actually moving towards production, so this is going to change."

Upcoming operations are expected to slowly revamp the country's mining industry. Nussir ASA's Nussir copper project, Nordic Mining ASA's Engebo rutile-garnet project and Orion Mine Finance's Sydvaranger iron ore project are among the country's most advanced mining developments, according to the government's critical mineral strategy report.

Norway also sees potential in the possible expansion of the Traelen graphite mine operated by Mineral Commodities Ltd.'s Skaland Graphite AS subsidiary. Natural graphite comprises the largest part of a lithium-ion battery by volume.

The mine on Senja Island has annual production capacity of 10,000 metric tons of graphite, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, and the company is considering an expansion to 16,000 metric tons per year. The Traelen mine produced 10,380 metric tons of graphite in 2022, decreasing to 6,483 metric tons in 2023, Market Intelligence data shows.

The government is now focusing on capitalizing its reserves of natural graphite, copper, nickel, high-purity quartz, titanium minerals, rare earth elements, phosphate, cobalt, niobium and vanadium, according to the critical mineral strategy report. But industry wants government to put some money behind its words.

"The authorities need to walk the talk and offer financial de-risking for strategic, important minerals projects if they want diversified green value chains to be established in Europe and the US," Alf Reistad, acting CEO of Rare Earths Norway As, said in an email.

Digging deeper

Norway's reserves and resources include 420,000 metric tons of contained graphite, 173,000 metric tons of zinc and 124,000 metric tons of nickel, according to Market Intelligence data. The country also has reserves and resources containing 26,000 ounces of platinum and 19,000 ounces of palladium.

Norway budgeted $22.9 million for exploration in 2023, more than tripling the $6.1 million budgeted for 2022, Market Intelligence data shows. The country's exploration budget is focused on copper, nickel and potash, a fertilizer mineral.

Rare Earths Norway and REE Minerals AS are two companies in the spotlight due to their exploration of the Fen rare earths deposit in the southern part of the country. The Fen carbonatite complex is estimated to be the largest deposit of rare earths in continental Europe, containing 30 million to 50 million metric tons of total rare earth oxides, according to Rare Earths Norway.

Rare Earths Norway said the project permits cover about 90% of the Fen carbonatite deposit. The company expects to start operations in 2029, targeting pre-concentrate production containing 2,000 metric tons of combined neodymium and praseodymium by 2033, and increasing to 10,000 metric tons of mixed rare earth concentrate by 2040.

"The rare earths are in one deposit but they are really important and can take a very big role in showcasing what Norwegian mining can be," Schiellerup said.

And diving into the sea

Norway approved deep sea mineral exploration within its national waters on Jan. 9. The country sees the seafloor as another potential source for battery metals, despite ongoing pushback from the environmental and scientific communities over possible environmental damage.

The country estimates that it holds 185 MMt of manganese, 45 MMt of zinc and 38 MMt of copper, among other minerals, contained in sulfides, crusts and nodules at the bottom of its seabed, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate.

"There is a huge amount of minerals out there. And the question is, of course, how to get that up and processed in an environmentally friendly way," said Tjåland. "We can capitalize on selling this, as we did with oil, to a growing market."