Nordic countries cooperate to trace critical metals
Luleå The Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU) is working with the other Nordic countries to improve traceability, sustainable value chains and increased circularity for critical raw materials.
Last week, experts from across the Nordic region gathered in Helsinki to summarise the Nordic Sustainable Minerals project. The project is about utilising residual waste from the mining industry.
“The key to success is co-operation. We in the Nordic region can achieve a lot by focusing on optimising the value chain for metals and minerals. If we also succeed in utilising residual products as valuable resources and better trace the origin of raw materials, we will put the Nordic countries on the map as stable and competitive producers of raw materials,” says Thomas Pålsson, acting Director General of SGU.
Better traceability of raw materials is crucial to ensure transparency, responsibility and sustainability in the global value chain. This requires the development of standardised sampling and analysis methods that cannot be falsified. The project has looked at the possibility of analysing a metal’s unique fingerprint, a so-called geo-signature. It focussed on the traceability of rare earth elements (REEs), which are present in modern technologies and are central to many green energy technologies.
The project is one of several projects on raw materials management funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Lennart Håkansson, North Sweden Business
