Ministry: No phosphorite mining to take place in Estonia for 'foreseeable future'
Mining and quarrying phosphorite in Estonia is not economically viable at any time in the near future, the Ministry of Climate said.
This followed a study the ministry commissioned, which was carried out by the Geological Survey of Estonia (EGT).
The study, conducted between 2023 and 2026, focused on the Aru-Lõuna area near Kunda, Ida-Viru County, at the site of an active limestone quarry. The findings show that while there is scope to industrially process Estonian phosphorite using existing methods, with the output viable for producing high-quality fertilizers and chemical industry feedstocks, the actual mining and processing needed are not economically viable under current market conditions.
"The study provides us with science-based knowledge about the properties of Estonian phosphorite and its potential uses. Based on current knowledge, phosphorite mining in the studied area is not economically justified. At the same time, it is important to understand that Estonia's phosphorite constitutes a strategic mineral reserve whose significance may change in the future due to technological advances or evolving geopolitical circumstances," said Jaanus Uiga, deputy secretary general at the Ministry of Climate.
Estonian phosphorite does stand out internationally for its very low content of harmful impurities, such as cadmium, which renders it suitable for producing high-quality phosphorus-based raw materials and products, but again the economic considerations bar this going ahead in the Aru-Lõuna area.
The main factors are the substantial investment requirements, as well as processing and waste management costs arising from the characteristics of the mineral resource. Also, phosphoric acid prices on the global market are not currently high enough to justify investments on that scale, the ministry said.
"The study found that, using currently available industrial technologies, it is not economically feasible to extract rare earth elements from Aru-Lõuna phosphorite. Furthermore, there is currently no suitable industrial-scale solution for valorizing the black shale overlying the phosphorite deposit," said Sirli Sipp Kulli, EGT director.
The study had focused on the potential of the Toolse phosphorite deposit in the Aru-Lõuna area and assessed, among other things, the geochemical and mining-related properties of the phosphorite underground, potential processing technologies, economic feasibility, environmental impacts, and life-cycle aspects. The applicability of two technological approaches and a total of eight possible development scenarios were analyzed.
Phosphorite should then primarily be regarded as a strategic mineral reserve whose utilization may become viable in the future if technologies advance, market conditions change, or disruptions occur in existing raw material supply chains.
At the EU level, developing phosphorite processing capacity continues to be seen as important for strengthening Europe's security of supply and economic resilience. In Estonia specifically, further potential is seen primarily in exploring opportunities to utilize associated resources and production residues, as well as in developing new clean industrial solutions.
Kulli said the EGT's Scientific Council is due to discuss the study on Friday. The EGT is due to publish the study's final consolidated report on its website from June 29.
The possibility of mining phosphorite in Estonia was seriously looked at toward the end of the Soviet occupation and met with widespread protests over the environmental impacts of the strip-mining methods used at the time.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
