Geologist digs into promise of huge Norwegian phosphate rock deposit

ROGALAND, Norway (CN) — Norwegian-British company Norge Mining made a considerable discovery five years ago in the mountainous southwestern region of Rogaland: a phosphate rock deposit that more recently has been found to hold 70 billion tons of the mineral as well as titanium.

The amount is huge on a global scale, as a 2021 U.S. Geological Survey estimates the world’s total reserves of phosphate rock to be 71 billion tons. Traditionally Morocco and Western Sahara have been considered to hold the biggest reserves, followed by China, Egypt and Algeria.

After the discovery in Norway, however, Europe could soon take on a leading role in the extraction and export of phosphate. Phosphate rock is listed as a critical material by the European Commission because it is crucial to the economy but difficult to supply.

The media outlet Euroactiv quoted Norge Mining CEO Michael Wurmser in late June as suggesting that the discovery can give the West production autonomy over phosphate.

“Finding something of that magnitude in Europe is significant,” Wurmser said.

Phosphate is vital for the supply of fertilizers in the agricultural sector. The mineral contains the chemical element phosphorus, which is especially nutritious for crops and plants, and is easily washed away from the soil after use.  

Another focus for Nordic and European media outlets has been what the underground deposits of phosphate rock in Norway could mean for the green energy transition. Norge Mining has said that, theoretically, the 70 billion tons would provide solar panels and batteries for electric cars for 50 years.   

Axel Müller, senior geologist with the Natural History Museum of Oslo University, chimed in meanwhile with a substantial asterisk to that theory.

“The amount of phosphate needed for semiconductors in solar cells or electric cars is little," Müller said in a phone interview.

Müller leads the mineralogical research group at the Natural History Museum and has spent years examining minerals in relationship to industry and supply chains.

Compared with lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, copper and rare earth elements — substances that are highly needed for car batteries and windmills — the geologist said phosphate "is not really an important mineral for the green technology shift."

Müller underlined that fertilizer is indeed phosphate’s most important application, and that in turn it is extremely important for farming all over the world. Compounding its importance is the supply crisis fueled by the war in Ukraine, since both Russia and Ukraine are some of the world’s leading exporters.

After fertilizer, the next most important application is phosphate acid for the chemical industry and cleaning detergents, such as washing powder.

Müller noted that the big mineral reserves under the soil in Rogaland had been known for decades and described in several geological reports. What's new is that Norge Mining obtained a license to examine the potential for extraction in the area. But the technology to separate the phosphate mineral from the rocks will take a long time and a lot of money to develop.

“We are talking in the far future, and the processing technique is complicated and energy intense,” Müller said.

“You have to separate minerals from each other by crushing the rock," he continued. "Then you have to apply different processing technologies such as magnetics, flotation, and possible acid treatment to get a phosphate concentrate out.”

Müller explained that the grade or concentration of phosphate in the hard rocks in Norway is around 4-5%, whereas it is commonly over 10% in the soft, sedimentary rocks in Africa or Asia. That makes it harder and more complicated to compete make use of the mined mineral in the Nordics.

In a corporate release, Norge Mining’s own expert in electric mobility, Jana Plananska, described the urgent need to develop better processing facilities for phosphate in Europe. She said that 80% of the current phosphate supply comes from sedimentary sources that are more contaminated than the so-called pure resources found in Norway.

Müller underlined that Norway has strict and good legislation for mining activities and workers’ conditions, which is an advantage compared to some of the other export countries.

Today, northern Finland is the only place in Scandinavia where phosphate is successfully extracted from hard rock. The new discovery in Norway could move the country in an interesting direction — from being a traditional exporter of oil to one of minerals.  

Müller did warn, however, not to believe the number 70 billion tons. He said that it probably refers to phosphate content of the entire rock body not considering what is mineable.

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