LKAB (rare earths and phosphorus)

Sweden's state-owned iron-ore miner, which is building a demonstration plant in Luleå to recover phosphorus and a mixed rare earth concentrate from apatite in its iron-ore tailings, with separation planned at REEtec in Norway.

Points to check

Facts from the sources on this page that a reader should weigh before relying on the company's own figures.

LKAB has not taken an investment decision on the full-scale Luleå industrial park; its CEO said on 26 May 2026 the decision will come 'when the conditions are right'.
The full-scale start date has moved from 2027 (stated May and Nov 2022) to the 2030s.
All rare earth figures for Per Geijer are Inferred Mineral Resources under PERC 2021, the lowest-confidence resource category; none is a Mineral Reserve.
No rare earth output tonnage has been published for either the demonstration plant or the current full-scale plan; the only tonnage (2,000 t/yr REE, form unstated) dates from May 2022.
The Gällivare permit that covers the apatite plant feeding Luleå was appealed by LKAB and by Havs- och vattenmyndigheten (Jul 2026), and the Per Geijer processing concession is still pending; the county administrative board recommended approval in September 2026.

At a glance

Founded: 1890 — Founded in 1890 to mine the Kiruna iron ore fields; the Swedish state became an owner in 1907 and has owned it outright since 1976.
Headquarters: Luleå, Norrbotten, Sweden
Ownership: Wholly owned by the Swedish state (100%); no equity listing. The rare earth / phosphorus activity is run inside LKAB (Special Products; Darren Wilson, SVP/director of Special Products, is the named spokesperson). LKAB became the largest shareholder in REEtec (Norway) with a NOK 400 million investment in Nov 2022, and held 34.4% of REEtec Holding AS at the end of 2025 (2025 annual report, Note 18).
Stage: Developing. A board-funded demonstration plant (about SEK 800 million) in Luleå, due to start in autumn 2026; no rare earth output yet and no investment decision on the full-scale industrial park.
Listing: Government-owned.
Revenue: SEK 33,325 million (FY2024: SEK 33,146 million)
Reported, FY2025 (calendar year).
Source

Capacity

Each date below links to the document the figure came from. A capacity figure with no source is not on this page.

What	Figure	Status	As of
Luleå demonstration plant	Not disclosed (no input or output tonnage published)	Under construction	May 2026
Full-scale Luleå industrial park, original plan (site selection)	Input: 400,000 t apatite concentrate. Output: 2,000 t 'Rare Earth Elements' (form not stated; 'corresponding to 30% of today's imports of REE into the EU'), 16,000 t fluorine products, 650,000 t gypsum, phosphoric acid and MAP/DAP fertilizer ('5 times Sweden's demand'). Up to SEK 10 billion investment, about 500 jobs (the release says both 'more than' and 'up to' 500), production start 2027. The release gives no period for the tonnages.	Delayed	May 2022
Full-scale Luleå industrial park, current public figures	Phosphorus output 'seven times Sweden's demand' and 8% of EU demand. Rare earths: no tonnage published; the share-of-demand figures quoted since are under 'Where public sources disagree'.	Announced	Dec 2024
ReeMAP early full-scale ambition (apatite concentrate from tailings)	About 400,000 t/yr apatite concentrate (input feed) from two plants; 2019 release said rare earth output about 2% of world production	Historical	May 2020

Narrative

LKAB mines iron ore at Kiruna and Malmberget, and the ore carries apatite, a phosphate mineral that holds rare earths. Its plan, first set out in 2019 as ReeMAP, is to float apatite from the tailings, ship it to Luleå and dissolve it into phosphorus products for fertilizer, gypsum and a mixed rare earth concentrate. In October 2024 the board approved about SEK 800 million for a demonstration plant at Svartön in Luleå; construction started in January 2025, the building was complete by April 2026 with equipment being installed, and in May 2026 LKAB said it would be operating in the autumn. LKAB has not published the plant's capacity. The only tonnage it has published for the full-scale industrial park dates from 2022, when it planned about 2,000 t of rare earths from 400,000 t of apatite concentrate (the release gives no period); on May 26, 2026 LKAB announced that the Land and Environment Court had granted the park's environmental permit, but the chief executive said the investment decision will come when conditions are right, and full scale is now targeted for the 2030s rather than 2027. LKAB does not plan to separate individual rare earths itself: it became the largest shareholder in REEtec, which in 2022 planned separation plants at Herøya, Norway, with a NOK 400 million investment that year, and held 34.4% of it at the end of 2025. Its Per Geijer deposit at Kiruna, described in 2023 as Europe's largest known rare earth deposit, is classed entirely as Inferred resources, now about 2.2 Mt of rare earth oxides. Rare earths are not reported separately in LKAB's results.

Where public sources disagree

Deposit size ranking: LKAB called Per Geijer 'Europe's largest known deposit' of rare earths (12 Jan 2023, >1 million t REO) and repeated 'Europe's largest' in Jun 2023 (>1.3 million t). On 6 Jun 2024 Rare Earths Norway reported the Fen deposit at 8.8 million t TREO (Inferred, JORC 2012, 1.57% TREO) as 'continental Europe's largest'. LKAB's later releases (Jan 2025, Mar 2025, Mar 2026) say 'one of Europe's largest'. 8.8 million t is 4.0 times LKAB's latest 2.2 million t Per Geijer figure. Both are Inferred resources.
Construction start of the Luleå demonstration plant: LKAB's press releases say construction commenced in January 2025 (28 Jan 2025; 26 May 2026). LKAB's Swedish consultation page says 'Under 2024 inleddes byggnation av en demonstrationsanläggning' (construction began during 2024), and its CRMA project page lists 'Construction started' under 2024. The board investment decision was 24 Oct 2024.
EU phosphorus share of the full-scale park: 'eight percent of the EU's demand' (LKAB permit application release, 20 Dec 2024; SVT, 26 May 2026) versus 'six percent of the EU's demand for phosphorus in agriculture' (LKAB release, 28 Jan 2025). Mining Technology (29 Jan 2025) quotes Darren Wilson putting phosphates at around 6% of European demand, without the agriculture scope.
Rare earth share of EU demand: LKAB's 3 May 2022 release gave 2,000 t/yr REE, 'corresponding to 30% of today's imports of REE into the EU'. Mining Technology (29 Jan 2025) quotes Darren Wilson: first stage about 2.5% of European rare earth demand, up to about 18% with Per Geijer. The first figure is a share of imports, the others a share of demand, and they are 3 years apart.
Product form at Luleå: LKAB's consultation page says Luleå will make a mixed rare earth concentrate needing further separation (REEtec named), and Mining Technology (Jan 2025) says 'rare earth concentrate'. LKAB's 23 Aug 2024 strategic-projects application release says the Luleå site will produce 'rare earth metal oxides'.
Demonstration plant cost: LKAB states about SEK 800 million (24 Oct 2024). Speciality Chemicals Magazine (3 Feb 2025) gives EUR 9.8 million. At roughly SEK 11.5 per EUR, SEK 800 million is about EUR 70 million; Mining Technology gives about USD 73 million.
Permit date: Rare Earth Exchanges (29 Sep 2026) says the environmental permit was secured in May 2025; LKAB's release dates the Luleå permit to 26 May 2026.
Per Geijer iron resource: LKAB's CRMA page gives 'approximately 1.2 billion [metric tons] of iron ore and phosphorus'; LKAB's 30 Mar 2026 release gives approximately 1.3 billion t. The CRMA page is undated and may reflect the end-2024 figure.

Sources

LKAB constructs facility for critical minerals - the first of its kind in Europe — LKAB (2025-01-28)
LKAB receives the go-ahead for its critical minerals initiative — LKAB (2026-05-26)
LKAB får klartecken för satsningen på kritiska mineral i Luleå — LKAB (2026-05-26)
LKAB får tillstånd till en ny industripark för kritiska mineral i Luleå — SVT Nyheter (2026-05-26)
LKAB får klartecken för megasatsning på kritiska mineral — dagensnaringsliv.se (secondary) (2026-05-26)
Progress in Luleå for the investment in critical minerals — LKAB (2026-04-21)
LKAB takes the next step in its investment in critical minerals — LKAB (2024-10-24)
Permit application for Industrial Park in Luleå - crucial for future supply of critical minerals in Europe — LKAB (2024-12-20)
Samråd för industripark för kritiska mineral i Luleå — LKAB (undated (accessed 2026-09-29))
LKAB chooses Luleå for circular industrial park for phosphorus and rare earth elements — LKAB (2022-05-03)
LKAB becomes largest owner in REEtec AS, builds a strong Nordic industry for rare earth elements — LKAB (2022-11-08)
REEtec raises NOK 1200 million for first industrial plant — REEtec (2022-11-08)
REEtec raises EUR 115 million for first industrial rare earth plant — Mercuria (2022-11-08)
Norwegian-Swedish Cooperation on Rare Earth Metals: Marks the Beginning of Something New in Europe — High North News (secondary) (2022-11-10)
Europe's largest deposit of rare earth metals is located in the Kiruna area — LKAB (2023-01-12)
Europe's largest deposit of rare earth elements now 25 percent larger - today marks the first step in critical review — LKAB (2023-06-12)
LKAB reports larger Mineral Resources: significant increase in Rare Earth Oxides — LKAB (2025-03-27)
LKAB reports improved Mineral Resources — LKAB (2026-03-30)
LKAB applies for three strategic projects in the EU for mining and upgrading rare earth metals — LKAB (2024-08-23)
LKAB's future initiatives designated as Strategic Projects by the EU — LKAB (2025-03-25)
LKAB projects granted strategic project status in EU's Critical Raw Materials Act — LKAB (undated (accessed 2026-09-29))
LKAB granted environmental permit for operations in Gällivare — LKAB (2026-06-15)
LKAB:s tillstånd överklagas - även av LKAB själva — Norrländska Socialdemokraten (NSD) (2026-07-08)
LKAB lämnar in ansökan om bearbetningskoncession — Metaller och Gruvor (2023-06-12)
Års- och hållbarhetsredovisning 2025 — LKAB (2026-03)
Year-end Report 2025: Lower earnings in the quarter, despite stable underlying operations — LKAB (2026-02-10)
Interim Report April-June 2026 — LKAB (2026-08-13)
Sweden's LKAB could meet 18% of Europe's rare earth metal demand — Mining Technology (GlobalData), via Yahoo Finance (secondary) (2025-01-29)
LKAB produces Apatite from mine waste in a new pilot plant — LKAB (2020-05)
LKAB invests in pilot plants for phosphorus and rare earth metals — LKAB Minerals (2019-02-20)
LKAB opens rare earths demo plant — Speciality Chemicals Magazine (secondary) (2025-02-03)
LKAB Luleå Rare Earth Demonstration Plant 2026 — Rare Earth Exchanges (secondary) (2026-09-29)
Europe's largest deposit of rare earth elements discovered at Fen, Norway — Rare Earths Norway (2024-06-06)
LKAB — Wikipedia (accessed 2026-09-29)
EU-status avgjorde stöd för Per Geijer-fyndigheten — Sejfer (2026-09-30)

How this page is sourced

Everything here comes from public sources — company filings, annual reports, exchange announcements, government releases and trade press. Every figure is linked to the document it came from and carries the date that document was published, because a capacity number without a date is not a fact, it is a rumor with a decimal point.

What is deliberately absent: material nonpublic information. I have spent more than two decades in this industry and a good deal of what I know about these companies I learned under NDA. Those obligations do not expire and they do not bend for a website. Nothing I have been told in confidence appears here in any form, and nothing on this page — or missing from it — should be read as a signal about what I know privately. I hold NDAs absolutely. It is the reason clients tell me things.

Judgment is the other thing left out on purpose. This page reports what has been published and who published it. Whether a target is credible, whether a ramp will hold, whether a capacity figure survives contact with the plant behind it — that is the work I do for clients, and it does not belong in a free reference page.

Where public sources disagree, I say so rather than picking a winner. Where a figure has not been published, the field says so rather than carrying an estimate. An empty field is information too.

Public filings tell you what a company has said. Whether it holds up is a different question, and the one I get hired to answer.

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