Why is Swedish rare earth metals interesting only now?
Sweden has for a long time been called “the home of rare earth metals” and many of them were actually discovered here, several hundred years ago. What is a rare earth element and why are they so important? Why are they so difficult to get out of the ore? And, why is it only now that interest has awakened in mining in Sweden? Is it new technology? Or is it the size and grade of LKAB’s deposit in Kiruna that makes it profitable?
Guests: Kerstin Forsberg, professor of chemical engineering at KTH, Erik Jonsson, state geologist at SGU and adjunct professor at Uppsala University, Kristian Larsson, researcher and development engineer at LKAB, and Jonas Mattsson, editor-in-chief of Forskning & Framsteg.
Host: Sofie Pehrsson.