‘The Potential To Be Europe’s First REE Mine’
European Green Metals Ltd, a critical metals exploration and development company focussed in Europe for Europe, is pleased to announce that it has acquired the Olserum advanced Rare Earth Element (REE) project (‘Olserum’ or ‘the Project’) in Southern Sweden. The acquisition is part of the Company’s strategy of building a portfolio of critical mineral development projects in Europe that have the potential to supply the continent’s rapidly growing energy transition related industries.
Highlights:
- Olserum is a high value Permanent Magnet REE (‘PMREE’) project in southern Sweden recently designated a ‘Project of National Interest’ by the Swedish Geological Survey.
- Historic 43-101 Indicated Resource of 4.5Mt grading 0.6% Total Rare Earth Oxides (‘TREO’) and an Inferred Resource of 3.3Mt grading 0.63% Total REO using a 0.4% cut-off dated 2013.
- Major potential for resource expansion with deposit open at depth and along strike – new geological model expected to result in increase of tonnage and grade beyond the current resource area.
- Beneficiation testwork from 2019 shows that REE can be recovered and that high grade concentrates can be produced by standard metallurgical processes.
- Ideally located to supply Europe with its own REE, particularly relevant in the context of the new European Critical Minerals Act which stresses the acute need to develop in-continent supply chains.
- Defined development programme in place to rapidly advance the Project to Bankable Feasibility.
EGM Chief Executive Officer David Hall said, “Olserum is a scalable high value Permanent Magnet REE project that we believe has the potential to be Europe’s first REE mine. The Project, which is already designated by the Swedish Geological Survey as of one of ‘National Interest’, has an historic Indicated and Inferred Resource of 7.8 Mt grading 0.61% Total Rare Earth Oxides (‘TREO’). Importantly beneficiation testwork has already indicated that the REE can be recovered and that high grade concentrates can be produced by standard metallurgical processes, a bonus as REE deposits are often hard to process, owing to complicated mineralogy and the type of hosting minerals.
“Olserum, being in proximity to the European car manufacturing centres, new gigafactories and energy transition related industries, is ideally positioned to supply PMREE’s critical in the production of permanent magnets and electric batteries vital to EV’s and wind turbines. Indeed, each wind turbine contains up to 2,000 kgs of REE magnets. China currently dominates both the mining and processing of REE and as such creates an amplified security of supply risk. There are currently no REE mines in Europe and only one processing facility in Latvia. The value of developing Olserum in Europe with downstream processing involvement is potentially extremely significant, valuable to end users on the continent and the EU’s net zero ambitions.
“Sweden has a very good long established legal and fiscal mining code and is a supportive mining jurisdiction, as highlighted by the designation of the project as being of National Interest. The Project has excellent infrastructure, accessibility and is close to the nearby port of Västervik. It therefore fits with our strategy to find and develop economic critical mineral and REE projects in Europe for Europe and compliments our Pajala graphite project, also in Sweden.
“Our team has developed resource projects around the world from exploration to production and we are truly excited about Olserum’s potential. We have an extensive development plan being implemented to advance the Project to full feasibility and look forward to investing in Olserum for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
Details:
Olserum is a highly prospective REE project in Southern Sweden. It comprises of 2 licenses totalling 6.5 sq. km and benefits from access and infrastructure and is close to the port of Västervik. The Project, acquired from Explora Minerals AB and European Mineral Exploration AB, has a 43-101 Indicated Resource of 4.5Mt grading 0.6% Total Rare Earth Oxides (‘TREO’) and an Inferred Resource of 3.3Mt grading 0.63% Total REO using a 0.4% cut-off. 31 drill holes totalling 5,297m of diamond drilling were completed by Tasman and the previous owner IGE Nordic since 2004, where samples were composited on 1m lengths. All assays by Tasman and IGE Nordic were completed at ALS Chemex’s Vancouver Laboratory.
The resource has an elevated contribution of PMREE namely praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), dysprosium (Dy)and terbium (Tb), which constitute only 25% of the total rare earths production volume, yet they represent 80% to 90% of the total rare earths market value. The current resource covers a strike of 400m by 100-150m wide and is tested to a depth of 250m. Importantly it remains open at depth and laterally and additional outcrops have already been identified on the licence suggesting continuation of the mineralised structure. The nearby prospects of Djupedal and Bersummen also present extensive potential upside.
Olserum Cross Section:
Olserum 3-D Geological Model
Benefication test work reported in 2019 shows preliminary tests which achieved 80% recoveries of REE. Developed by GTK Mintec at Outokumpu labs in Finland this included grinding, wet low intensity magnetic separation (‘WLIMS’) for removal of magnetite and REEs flotation consisting of one stage of roughing and two stages of cleaning. Selective flotation collector of REE minerals and suitable grinding size of feed material were determined. The REE concentrate and tailings were chemically and mineralogically characterized. The studies of process mineralogy showed that the REE-bearing minerals, monazite and xenotime, and apatite were successfully enriched from the concentrations of 0.6%, 0.31% and 2.6% in the feed to those of 17.0%, 8.9% and 65.0% in the concentrate with the recoveries of 79.0%, 81.3% and 71.0%, respectively.
The team will be extremely active over the next 24 months in order to advance the Project and quantify its inherent value. The aim is to commence infill drilling on the current resource area to upgrade Indicated to Measured and Inferred to Indicated as well as testing the extensions of the mineralised footprint. Additional beneficiation test work will be conducted, a bulk sample for further metallurgical testwork will be undertaken and a new resource statement is targeted within 12 months. The aim is to fast track to Full Feasibility within 24 months. Furthermore, the team intends to define further upside for REE mineralization at the Djupedal and Bersummen targets. The ultimate aim is to seek potential partners from EV producers and wind turbine manufacturers and accelerate the project to production in support of the EU’s Critical Minerals Act.
