Norwegian Village Could Hold Key To Europe’s Future

A quiet colony successful confederate Norway could soon go Europe’s reply to its dependency connected China for uncommon world elements, pinch a arguable mining task underway beneath nan homes and schools of Ulefoss.

The municipality of conscionable complete 2,000 residents sits connected apical of nan continent’s largest known uncommon world deposit – nan Fen complex – containing an estimated 9 cardinal tonnes of uncommon world oxides, according to Rare Earths Norway (REN), nan institution down nan mining project.

These metals are captious for everything from smartphones to electrical vehicles, upwind turbines to subject jets – technologies nan European Union progressively depends on.

“We are acold behind, some successful nan EU and of people successful Norway,” said Tomas Norvoll, authorities caput astatine Norway’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. “Therefore it is important that we do it pinch our ain resources here” (cited by DW).

A excavation hidden nether homes successful Ulefoss

The Fen analyzable lies conscionable 100 metres underground, beneath residential homes and section infrastructure, posing a situation for REN’s improvement plan.

To debar disrupting nan town, nan institution has projected an “invisible mine” – a passageway starting 4 kilometres from Ulefoss, pinch automated drills extracting ore successful heavy sections. The crushed materials would beryllium sent via conveyor loop to a adjacent processing plant.

But biology concerns remain. One section resident, who asked to stay anonymous, expressed outrage astatine projected landfill sites for excavation waste:

“For me, existing ponds are astir beatified considering nan ambiance problems we person aliases will beryllium having. Had this been successful nan 1950s erstwhile I was a boy, I could understand it, but erstwhile nan plans are for 2025, I respond very powerfully against it.”

To mitigate risks, REN plans to refill astir half nan mined-out voids pinch bonded discarded to forestall crushed collapse. This was a instruction learned from Sweden’s Kiruna mine, which forced nan relocation of nan full municipality owed to subsidence.

Some section hopes for economical revival

Despite tensions, galore residents invited nan task arsenic a return to Ulefoss’s business roots. The municipality has a agelong history of mining, making love backmost to nan 1600s, but its past robust pit closed successful nan 1960s.

“Many group are funny towards caller mining activity, hoping that this will bring backmost jobs and bring people. And we are moving very intimately pinch section businesses to fortify worth creation locally.” said REN organization liaison Tor Espen Simonsen.

The task has truthful acold avoided awesome section authorities guidance aliases protests.

REN hopes to commencement aviator operations arsenic early arsenic 2026. If successful, it would go Europe’s first business root of uncommon earths and perchance proviso up to a 3rd of nan EU’s estimated request successful nan future.

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