Critical metals and minerals in the Nordic countries of Europe: diversity of mineralisation and green energy potential

Europe is mainly relying on imports of critical raw materials (CRM) for its industry, not least the vital ones for emerging green energy technologies. Among the main metal and mineral producers in Europe today, the Nordic countries (here: Greenland, Norway, Sweden and Finland) share a diverse geology with various deposit types formed over a long geological time span. This has led to large near-future potential with regards to CRM production. Based on current knowledge and datasets, we assess the Nordic geological potential for the CRMs which are specifically relevant for green technologies, namely: cobalt, graphite, hafnium, lithium, niobium, platinum-group metals, rare earth elements, silicon, tantalum, titanium, and vanadium, describing the most important deposits, their setting and characteristics. Several Nordic CRM resources stand out in a European and even global context, such as the giant REE(-Nb-Ta-Hf) deposits in Greenland, while the REE-Nb-(Hf) deposits at Fen (Norway) and Norra Kärr (Sweden) are very significant for Europe; Finland has the only major cobalt production, while Norway has very significant graphite and titanium resources and production. Furthermore, Sweden, Finland and Greenland have very large vanadium resources. Additionally, we conclude that the Nordic research and exploration potential for most CRMs is large.