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Key Piece in Place for Critical Minerals Initiative in Northern Sweden
The Swedish mining company LKAB is one step closer to realizing the planned Industrial park for critical minerals in Luleå. The project in Northern Sweden is seen as significant in increasing Europe’s self-sufficiency in critical raw materials.
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On Tuesday, the Swedish mining company LKAB received the go-ahead for its critical minerals initiative in Luleå, as the Land and Environmental Court granted an environmental permit for the planned Industrial park for critical minerals in the Northern Swedish city.
The planned industrial park is part of LKAB's expansion of operations, and is to process phosphorus for mineral fertiliser as well as rare earth elements. This will help strenghtening Sweden's and the EU's access to strategic raw materials, the company emphasizes in a press release.
“The need is significant. Today, Europe is almost entirely dependent on imports of these strategically important and critical minerals, while demand is rising rapidly. The court’s decision is therefore very welcome news. It means we now have a crucial piece of the puzzle in place to be able to move forward with our plans,” says Darren Wilson, SVP Business Area Special Products at LKAB.
Part of a larger value chain
In 2025, the European Commission designated LKAB's planned industrial park in Luleå as a strategic project according to EU's Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA).
The legislation is intended to help reduce the Union's import dependency on critical raw materials by strengthening extraction and processing in Europe.
Among the other projects granted this status is LKAB's iron ore mine in Malmberget in Gällivare municipality, where process development enables the simultaneous extraction of rare earth elements and phosphorus from materials that are already mined.
LKAB's new deposit in Kiruna, Per Geijer, is also on the list. This is an iron ore deposit with a high phosphorus content, and is also regarded as one of Europe's largest deposits of rare earth metals.
Through the three projects, LKAB plans to take on a leading role in creating a Nordic and European value chain for strategic and critical minerals, according to the company.
Residual waste
More specifically, the industrial park in Luleå is part of LKAB's investment in industrial activity where residual streams from mining production can be transformed into important resources.
The company states that it plans to start extracting critical minerals from the aforementioned iron ore mine in Gällivare by establishing a new apatite processing plant.
The apatite concentrate from Gällivare will then be transported to the industrial park in Luleå, where LKAB plans to produce rare earth elements, phosphorus for the production of mineral fertilizer for agriculture, and gypsum as a by-product for the construction industry.
More pieces
In October 2024, LKAB decided to invest SEK 800 million in a demonstration plant in Luleå, which will verify and further develop the technologies required for the extraction of phosphorus and the rare earth elements.
In January 2025, LKAB commenced construction of the plant, which is expected to be operational by fall.
According to LKAB, the demonstration plant will be the first in Europe to test technology for extracting both phosphorus and all 17 rare earth elements from the residual stream of iron ore production.
The results from the plant will be an important part of the upcoming investment decision on full-scale production.
Although the environmental permit was an important piece of the puzzle for the planned industrial park, LKAB CEO Johan Menckel stresses that future decisions on investment and implementation will be based on several factors, such as technical and market conditions.
"We are moving forward step by step and will make our investment decision when the conditions are right,” says Menckel.
The forthcoming decision also depends on the environmental permit for LKAB’s continued operations and apatite plant in Gällivare, where the main hearing has concluded and a ruling is expected in June.
"Welcome news for Luleå"
The permit for the industrial park was considered by the Land and Environmental Court at Umeå District Court, which has determined that the location at Svartön in Luleå is well chosen.
The ruling states, among other things, that the operation's impact on human health and the environment will not exceed acceptable levels.
Furthermore, LKAB has 12 years to build the industrial park, measured from the date the permit enters into force.
The chair of the Municipal Executive Board in Luleå municipality, Carina Sammeli (S), stresses that the ruling from the Land and Environmental Court is encouraging news for Luleå and society at large.
"The ruling is very welcome news for Luleå and for society as a whole. In the current geopolitical setting, it is more important than ever to secure our supply of phosphorus and rare earth elements. I share LKAB’s delight at this important first step towards future investment, more jobs and a long-term sustainable world with reduced climate emissions," she concludes.
