It was only at the beginning of 2021 that a headline went through the press everywhere – a huge deposit of phosphates, vanadium and titanium was discovered in Norway. The discovery of the resources was made several years ago, but until then it had not caused much of a stir.
The EU has also not shown very much interest so far and participation in the financing of the project has also failed to materialize so far, but instead the mining company Norge Mining, which was only founded in 2018, has long since started exploration in the Dalane area in Norway. The results give hope for a mega deposit of rare raw materials that could make the EU independent of phosphate suppliers in particular.
Phosphates, vanadium and titanium – even more important in the future
Phosphates are essential for the production of fertilizers, while vanadium is used in the manufacture of high-performance batteries. In this context, the rare vanadium is becoming increasingly important, because vanadium batteries are far superior in many respects to the previously more popular lithium-ion batteries.
This means they can be recharged faster and more frequently without losing power, and vanadium is easier to recycle. Titanium is in particularly high demand in the steel industry.
The raw material deposit was underestimated for a long time
After a newly discovered phosphate deposit in southwestern Norway initially only aroused the interest of the Norwegian universities and the country’s Geological Survey NGU, it was not yet clear what an exciting and significant discovery it was.
Already in 2012, the found raw material deposit was examined more closely. But at that time, the NGU still assumed a much lower extent and value of the raw material deposits.
In the meantime, it has become clear that the Norwegian raw material deposit really is a mega deposit of rare raw materials. The mining company Norge Mining has taken over exploration and, according to initial soil samples, is talking about an estimated 70 to 80 million tons of ore rock containing mainly phosphates.
If Norge Mining’s estimate is correct, Norway’s phosphate reserves would thus be the largest reserves in the world. Until now, the largest phosphate reserves were thought to be in Morocco with 50 million tons, followed by China with 3 billion tons.
According to Norge Mining, the huge phosphate deposits are to be supplemented by about 3.5 billion tons of ore rock, in which there are about 2.45 million tons of vanadium. Norge Mining has not yet provided any information on the titanium reserves in the approximately 420 square kilometer area.
Whereas shortly after the discovery of the deposits it was assumed that the mineralization of the ore rock only extends to a maximum depth of 100 meters, it is now known that it extends at least continuously to a depth of 2200 meters. Norge Mining even hopes that the mineralization could go even deeper, possibly up to 4500 meters.
According to statements by Norge Mining, production of the rare raw materials could begin in 5 to 6 years.
