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Rare Earths Norway has approved a €24 million pilot plant in Ulefoss to test an integrated process for material from its Fen rare earths project. The company says the facility is scheduled to begin operating in the third quarter of 2027; commercial extraction is targeted for the early 2030s, subject to further development and permitting.
Rare Earths Norway has approved a €24 million pilot plant in Ulefoss to test processing material from its Fen rare earths project, a step toward evaluating whether the Norwegian deposit can supply ingredients for permanent magnets. The company said the facility is scheduled to begin operating in the third quarter of 2027; it is a pilot, not a commercial mine or a guarantee of future production.
The plant will be located in an existing industrial building in Ulefoss, about 160 kilometres southwest of Oslo. Rare Earths Norway says it will test an integrated processing route from ore to rare earth oxides, produce operating data and provide products to European partners for trials making metals and magnets. The company has not specified when construction will begin or published a full breakdown of the project’s funding.
Funding identified so far includes €5.4 million from Innovation Norway and €1.9 million from the Telemark Development Fund. The report also says the EU-backed EIT RawMaterials consortium is providing funding, but does not state the amount. The company’s CEO, Håvard Moe, described the investment as a step toward production and said the pilot would test the processing route and generate operating data.
Rare Earths Norway aims to begin commercial extraction in the early 2030s. Before that, the pilot is intended to help test production methods and supply prospective European partners with material for further testing. The company’s target timeline is not a confirmed production date: development, resource evaluation and Norway’s planning process remain relevant to whether and when a mine can proceed.
Testing a European Magnet Supply
The plant’s purpose reaches beyond testing equipment at one project. Fen contains neodymium and praseodymium, elements used in powerful permanent magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines and defence equipment. A successful processing route could help establish a non-Chinese source of material for European manufacturers, although the pilot’s approval alone does not show that the project can produce at commercial scale or at competitive cost.
The announcement comes as EU countries seek to reduce dependence on imported rare earths and magnets. EIT RawMaterials CEO Bernd Schäfer called that reliance a strategic vulnerability. His statement reflects the policy and supply-chain rationale for supporting projects such as Fen; it is not evidence that the pilot will resolve Europe’s dependence. The facility’s operating results and partners’ product tests will help show whether the proposed route can meet technical requirements.
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Fen’s Resource and Planning Status
A resource update released in March reported 123 million indicated tonnes grading 1.35% total rare earth oxides, containing about 1.7 million tonnes of oxides. It also reported 1.08 billion inferred tonnes grading 1.31%, containing 14.2 million tonnes. The estimate has an effective date of Dec. 31. These categories represent different levels of geological confidence: the indicated resource has greater confidence than inferred material, and neither figure on its own establishes an economically mineable reserve.
The reported combined contained oxides rose about 80% from the 8.8 million tonnes reported in 2024. The update established Fen’s first indicated resource; neodymium and praseodymium oxides made up about 19% of total rare earth oxides in that category. The company attributed the resource expansion to additional drilling and changes to its proposed mining approach, including increasing the protective rock layer between underground openings and the surface to 100 metres from 25 metres.
Norway’s government took over the project’s zoning process in April because it involves matters of national interest. In September, the government set an ambition to complete the plan by 2028, preferably by the end of the following year. That planning process covers proposed locations and conditions for underground mining, processing, tailings storage and infrastructure. Separately, an application published by Norway’s Environment Agency in March envisaged processing 6,000 tonnes of ore over three years to optimize concentrate production.
““This investment is a concrete step towards bringing the Fen deposit into production.””
— Håvard Moe, CEO of Rare Earths Norway
Funding, Permits and Production Risks
The published information does not give the full financing breakdown, the construction schedule or the amount supplied by EIT RawMaterials. It also does not specify which European partners will test the pilot’s products, what performance standards those products must meet, or what output the plant is expected to achieve.
The pilot’s proposed operation and the project’s commercial future should be treated separately. Norway’s zoning process is ongoing, and its outcome will shape where mining, processing, tailings storage and infrastructure can be located and under what conditions. The company has not announced a final commercial mine approval, production capacity, operating costs or a binding timetable for first saleable products. The resource estimates are not reserves and do not by themselves establish economic viability.
Pilot Results and Norway’s Plan
The next reported milestones are completion of Norway’s planning process and preparation of the Ulefoss facility for its scheduled third-quarter 2027 start. Once operating, the pilot is intended to generate data on the integrated process and provide material for European partners’ tests. Those results would offer evidence about processing performance, but the source material does not give a timetable for publication or identify a specific decision that will follow the tests.
Rare Earths Norway’s stated longer-term aim is commercial extraction in the early 2030s. Whether that target can be met will depend on the planning process, project development and the technical and commercial findings from pilot work. The company has not supplied a confirmed production start date.
Key Questions
What has Rare Earths Norway approved?
The company approved construction of a €24 million pilot plant in Ulefoss to test processing material from the Fen rare earths project. It is a testing facility, not a commercial mine.
When is the Fen pilot plant expected to operate?
Rare Earths Norway says operations are scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2027. The source report does not provide a construction start date.
How is the pilot being funded?
Identified contributions include €5.4 million from Innovation Norway and €1.9 million from the Telemark Development Fund. EIT RawMaterials is also providing funding, but its contribution and the complete financing breakdown have not been specified.
What will the plant test?
The company says it will test an integrated process from ore to rare earth oxides, generate operating data and supply products to European partners for trial production of metals and magnets.
When could Fen start commercial production?
Rare Earths Norway’s stated target is the early 2030s. That is a company aim, not a confirmed start date; the project’s planning process and further development remain outstanding.
Source: northernminer.com
