The difficulty in obtaining rare earth metals can be a great opportunity for Sweden, but the tough extraction makes great demands on those authorities which are to assess and approve the mining. More persons are required to deal with the questions and regulations, otherwise the jobs will disappear to Norway and Finland instead, say Pia Pehrson and Sophia Linderstam of the Foyen law firm.
Sweden has a great opportunity to increase its market share of mining for rare earth metals, but the current environmental and work environment issues are tough challenges for the companies who wish to invest. Clear guidance is required from our authorities – and increased resources for the assessment process.
China is dominating the world market for extraction of rare earth metals. These metals are needed for high technology applications, e.g. batteries, magnets, wind power plants, solar power cells and low energy lamps. China’s decision to limit its exports onto the world market has led to anxiety all over the world.
The problem for China externally has been that the production of rare earth metals involves major environmental and work environment problems. This is probably one of the reasons why several other countries have ceased their own production. Alarming stories are reaching us from China about waste dams filled with toxic residues and contaminated land.
For Sweden, China’s export limitations are creating a great opportunity.
The conditions for operating mines for rare earth metals are good in several places in Sweden, e.g. in Västerbotten, and the feasibility of various projects in Sweden is currently being studied, e.g. in Norra Kärr, which is a good example of the national interest in minerals. In several other places, the possibility of extracting rare earth metals from old slag heaps is being examined. Old mining refuse may have its uses.
At the same time, the current requirements of the Environmental Code and of the Work Environment Act present a great challenge for this new branch of mining. The socio-economic aspects must also be analysed. The decontamination responsibilities are an economic challenge. But above all a clearer guidance is required regarding the requirements imposed by the Work Environment Authority and by the assessment authorities.
If Sweden is to attract new investments, the administration must be more effective and the assessment authorities must have more resources. That the Land and Environmental Court in Umeå is understaffed has been well known for more than 18 months, but so far the Court has received no increase in staff, in spite of a number of reminders from the industry. If we are to manage a legally safe examination of all the environmental and work environment issues to which the expanding mining industry leads, both the Land and Environmental Courts and the Work Environment Authority must be strengthened ¬– and a clear mining strategy must be developed.
Otherwise, we will unfortunately see the investments and new jobs ending up in Norway and Finland.
