Olserum, Sweden
The Olserum Rare Earths project in Southern Sweden
Olserum is a rare earths project in southern Sweden covering 6.5 sq km. It has a defined 43-101 compliant resource from 2013 consisting of an Indicated Resource of 4.5Mt grading 0.6% Total Rare Earth Oxides and Inferred Resource of 3.3Mt grading 0.63% Total Rare Earth Oxides using a 0.4% cut-off. The resource has a high contribution of high value critical REE namely dysprosium, yttrium, neodymium and terbium.
Benefication test work reported in 2019 shows that a proven flowsheet can generate strong recoveries of REE. The estimated cumulative cost for all work conducted to date at Olserum is estimated by the Board to be in the region of £1.5 million. The resource covers a strike of 400m by 100-150m wide and is tested to a depth of 250m. It remains open at depth and laterally. The nearby prospects of Djupedal and Bersummen present upside to the project.
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 and valuable to end users on the continent.
Key Project Takeaways
- Potential to be the first Rare Earth mine in Europe thereby supplying valuable Heavy Rare Earth’s for the production of permanent magnets vital to EV and Wind Turbines, and major contributor to net zero ambitions of the EU.
- Sweden is a favourable mining jurisdiction in Europe.
- Project has proximity to the Europe car manufacturing centres and new gigafactory construction markets.
- Beneficiation testwork shows that REE can be recovered and that high grade concentrates can be produced by standard metallurgical processes.
- Project will be fast tracked to FS without having to undertake lengthy scoping and PFS studies.
