Rare Earths Norway invests €24mln in minerals processing pilot
The facility will seek to convert ore from Europe’s largest documented rare-earth deposit into oxides for permanent magnets.
Rare Earths Norway (REN) approved construction of the pilot plant near its Fen Complex deposit in Telemark, with operations scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2027.
The plant will test the complete processing route from mined ore to rare-earth oxides. It will also supply samples to European partners for trial production of rare-earth metals and magnets.
The project aims to establish whether the technology can be scaled up for commercial production, while gathering data on energy use, waste and environmental performance.
Tailings and other processing residues will be assessed under realistic operating conditions to help minimise future environmental impacts.
The investment follows an updated resource estimate increasing the Fen Complex’s combined mineral resources from 8.8Mgt to 15.9Mt. The €24mln project includes €5.4mln from Innovation Norway and €1.9mln from the Telemark Development Fund.
REN aims to begin extracting rare-earth elements from the deposit in the early 2030s.
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