The Fen Complex is in the early stages of development, and the companies with mining rights* in the area are still engaged in documentation, surveys, research, and planning.
Author: Tor Espen Simonsen
Published: 07 Dec, 2023
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Updated: 12 Dec, 2023
The aim is to acquire enough knowledge to make a decision about starting mining operations. Reaching a conclusion can take time, and requires both the development of new technology, large investments and lengthy approval processes.
The elected representatives in Nome have determined that the municipality will assume responsibility for overseeing the approval and planning processes. One of the responsibilities is to facilitate active cooperation among licensees, the local population, and other stakeholders to achieve favorable outcomes.
The municipality has an administrative role in determine the use of areas for mining operations, processing facilities and other industry. This is done according to the requirements of the Planning and Building Act. The law lays down strict guidelines for transparency, hearings and citizen involvement.
As the Fen Complex is still in its early stages of development, we do not have detailed information about the potential appearance of a mining operation. Nevertheless, we possess substantial knowledge regarding the principles and assumptions that serve as the foundation for the municipality's planning of land-use objectives.
The core principle for mining in the Fen Complex is that the extraction of ore must take place in a closed mine. That is, an underground operation, as opposed to an open pit mine. When rare earths are extracted in the USA, China and Australia, this happens using open pits that leave large scars on the landscape (see picture).
Fen is a residential and living area, with large elements of agricultural areas, open spaces, forests and industry. The minerals in the deep-lying ore must therefore be extracted and coarsely crushed in underground facilities.
The ore must then be taken out on conveyor belts at an inclined angle, which should be less energy-demanding than a vertical lift system. The transport routes out of the mountain probably end up somewhere between four and five kilometers outside the Fen Complex itself.
Where the ore is taken out, it may be appropriate to place associated processing facilities. In such a plant, the minerals are separated from the ore and a concentrate is produced. The concentrate will contain all the various rare earth metals and will be sent on for separation. Such a separation can, for example, take place at REEtec's plant on Herøya.
It may also be relevant to consider a deposition site in the area where the ore is transported out. The planning needs to encompass long-lasting environmental solutions for the management of waste rock and tailings. Both processing plants and deposition sites are expected to require large land areas.
Another prerequisite for underground mining concerns the treatment of surplus masses, i.e. tailings. All steps in the process lead to excess mass or waste that must either be reused, backfilled in the mine, sold as a by-product or placed in a deposit site. Finally, it is also a goal that the rare earths can be reused at the end of their life cycle.
The process might look like this:
Optimizing such a cycle, with as much reuse and recycling as possible and as little waste and surplus mass as possible is a goal in Norway's mineral strategy. There, the government says that it will establish the world's most sustainable mineral industry.
The mineral deposits of rare earth elements constitute only a small percentage of the ore. This implies that large volumes of tailings and waste rock must be managed once the valuable minerals have been extracted.
This will likely involve the implementation of three parallel techniques:
1) development of by-products
2) backfilling of tailings in the mine
3) on-land disposal
The rock type that contains rare earth minerals is often referred to as rauhaugite (re-dolomite-carbonatite). It primarily consists of carbonates (80 to 90 percent). NGU states that carbonate minerals, such as limestone and dolomite, are "Norway's most important industrial mineral group". Carbonate minerals are utilized in various industries, including the paper industry, cement production, and environmental applications such as acid neutralization. There is a potential opportunity to produce marketable by-products from the surplus materials at Fen.
By-products can reduce the need for on-land disposal and enhance the financial viability of a mine. However, these by-products must meet cleanliness standards, and there will be a requirement to separate out radioactive thorium. Achieving this will be one of several critical success factors for mining in the Fen Complex.
The fact that Fen is a residential area makes it necessary to operate underground. Nevertheless, the deposit's location is considered favourable. The Fen Complex is located close to existing infrastructure such as roads and power grids, with good access to competent labor in an area with long industrial traditions. It is also a short distance to Norway's most advanced industrial area on Herøya and shipping ports to the global market.
Norwegian NGOs such as LO, NHO, Norsk arbeidsmandsforbund, Norges bergindustri og Norsk Industri recommends that a complete value chain be established in Telemark. The proposal was sent as the organisations' input to the government's mineral strategy. A complete value chain means all stages of production from mineral extraction to processing and separation of the rare earths to the production of metals and magnets in the county of Telemark.
At the same time, there are several challenges for possible mining, to which we do not yet know the answer:
For the county of Telemark, projections from Kraftløftet (LO og NHO) that there is already a power deficit in 2028. New industrial projects will not be able to be allocated electricity until new production enters the grid.
Fensfelet.no is owned by Nome municipality and Midt-Telemark og Nome utvikling AS (MTNU). The purpose of the website is to provide good and objective information about the Fen Complex to anyone who is interested.
