Europe, like many other parts of the world, is trying to reduce its dependence on importing these key metals from China. The focus is on recycling rare earths that are already in Europe. And the ripple effects from Europe’s growing appetite for rare earths raw materials extend all the way to Sweden’s far North. According to a report in CNBC, thousands of residents and buildings are being uprooted in Kiruna, a city that lies 145 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. The relocation project is reported to be one of the world’s most radical urban transformations. Rare Earth minerals is group of 17 metals are essential to huge amounts of modern technology such as smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines and MRI scanners.Kiruna is physically on the move because of ground subsidence from the expansion of a sprawling underground iron ore mine. A new home for city’s residents is reportedly being created about three kilometers east of the old town. The plan, which intends to boost investment in strategic projects, is designed to help break China’s long-held mineral dominance. “It’s a place that would seem exotic to so many and, in a way, I guess it is, but also it is a small town like so many others — struggling with what they are struggling with and challenged by being so dependent on one company,” Jennie Sjöholm, senior lecturer at Sweden’s University of Gothenburg, told CNBC by video call.
Moving a city amid Europe’s minerals push
Established 125 years ago as a city for the iron ore mining operations of state-owned firm LKAB, Kiruna serves as both a significant European space hub and home to the world’s largest underground iron ore mine. LKAB is a significant regional player, accounting for 80% of all iron ore mined in the European Union. LKAB recently identified one of Europe’s largest known deposits of rare earths, further strengthening its position in the extraction of essential materials for the green transition.Mats Taaveniku, chairman of the municipal council in Kiruna, told CNBC that the city’s relocation is a “huge project,” that could yield major opportunities for Europeans for decades to come. He said that a successful outcome will lead to greater financial and political support from both the Swedish government and the European Union. “We have what we can call a big fight between the municipality and LKAB, and the municipality and our own government,” Taaveniku told CNBC by video call.