[Rockhounds] Enormous deposit of rare earth elements discovered in heart of ancient Norwegian volcano

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

The heart of an ancient volcano in Norway hosts Europe's largest deposit of
rare earth elements, according to the mining company Rare Earths Norway.

On June 6, the company released a *report*
<https://rareearthsnorway.com/europes-largest-deposit-of-rare-earth-elements-discovered-at-fen-norway>
on
the deposit, which found that there is an estimated 8.8 megatons of rare
earth oxides available in the outcrop. About 1.5 megatons of that is
expected to be rare earth magnets, which are used in wind turbines and
electric vehicles.

"[T]he resource estimate underscores the potential of the deposit to be a
truly transformative asset that can underpin a secure rare earths value
chain for Europe," Rare Earths Norway CEO Alf Reistad said in a *statement*
<https://rareearthsnorway.com/europes-largest-deposit-of-rare-earth-elements-discovered-at-fen-norway>
.

The deposit, known as the Fen Carbonatite Complex, sits southwest of Oslo
near Lake Norsjø. Some 580 million years ago, the complex was the pipe of
an active volcano. Now long dead, the upper part of the volcano has eroded
away, exposing this magma-filled pipe, which is about 1.2 miles (2
kilometers) in diameter, to the surface.

The magma solidified into carbonatite, which is rock chock-full of minerals
that bear certain forms of carbonate molecules. According to Rare Earths
Norway, this once-molten magma now holds economically important rare earth
elements such as neodymium — a metallic element used to make magnets — and
praseodymium, also used in magnets as well as in other applications like
aircraft engines.

https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/enormous-deposit-of-rare-earth-elements-discovered-in-heart-of-ancient-norwegian-volcano