Sustainable Mining of REE in Europe

Purpose and goal:

The project "Sustainable mining of REE in Europe (Era-MIN Join Transnational Call 2023)" is a collaboration between Luleå University of Technology (coordinator), LKAB, Finnish Minerals Group, University of Huelva, University of Barcelona and Czech Geological Survey. The Swedish part of the project aims to develop LKAB´s mine waste and water management after extraction of REE from current mining and from the new Per Geijer ore.

The goal is to get a better understanding of the current situation in LKAB´s tailings repository and base future mine waste strategies on those results. Expected results and effects:

Expected results in the project are a mapping of which REE-bearing minerals and their quantity that are found in LKAB´s tailings storage facilities (TSF) and in the Per Geijer area, as well as REE mobility in different geochemical environments in tailings and groundwater in the TSF and the Per Geijer area. With this knowledge, LKAB can develop their waste management to prevent environmental impact from the minerals in the TSF when new waste is deposited there from REE extraction.

Approach and implementation:

We will map REE chemically and mineralogically in existing tailings storage facilities by sampling intact cores of tailings, groundwater and surface water. Rock samples and groundwater from the Per Geijer area will be sampled and evaluated. State-of-the-art technology for characterization for both minerals and water phases is available at Swedish School of Mines at LTU, and will be used for environmental mineralogy and environmental forensics in the project.