A huge Norwegian phosphate rock find is a boon for Europe
The West wants to rely less on China for strategic minerals like vanadium
NORSE LEGEND has it that the dwarves Brokkr and Eitri forged Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer, after Loki bet they could not match the skill of the Sons of Ivaldi, who had made Odin’s spear. Nowadays metallurgical rivalry in Europe’s far north is just as intense. Until recently the world’s largest known deposits of ultra-pure phosphate rock were on Russia’s Kola peninsula. Russia also has rich reserves of vanadium and titanium. But last month Norge Mining, an Anglo-Norwegian company, announced it had found massive deposits of all three in south-western Norway: at least 70bn tonnes.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Of fjords and forges”
From the June 10th 2023 edition
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