Free Republic

The beginning of the end of Europe’s dependency on China for precious rare earth materials may lie buried deep under the rugged reaches of northern Sweden, well above the Arctic Circle. Sweden’s iron-ore miner LKAB said Thursday it has identified "significant deposits" in Lapland of rare earth elements that are essential for the manufacture of smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines. The government-owned company that mines iron ore at Kiruna, almost 1,000 kilometers north of Stockholm, said there are more than 1 million tons of rare earth oxides....

Explanation: It appeared, momentarily, like a 50-km tall banded flag. In mid-March, an energetic Coronal Mass Ejection directed toward a clear magnetic channel to Earth led to one of the more intense geomagnetic storms of recent years. A visual result was wide spread auroras being seen over many countries near Earth's magnetic poles. Captured over Kiruna, Sweden, the image features an unusually straight auroral curtain with the green color emitted low in the Earth's atmosphere, and red many kilometers higher up. It is unclear where the rare purple aurora originates, but it might involve an unusual blue aurora at an...

At the end of March, Admiral Peary , Frosty , and myself flew up to Kiruna, Sweden, the home of the famous Ice Hotel, the world largest deep mine, and the area known as Lapland. It was an hour and 20 minute flight from Stockholm and took us inside the Arctic Circle. We were as far north as the Brooks Range in Alaska. Now Kiruna Airport, what can I say but its a riot. It has one arrival lounge and one departure lounge, and had one plane (ours) at it. They rolled up steps and unloaded people from the front...