Report
The rock type is called nepheline syenite and Axel Sjöqvist was the first to carry out a proper analysis of the stone using modern methods.
Investigation of unique geological find In Norra Kärr outside Gränna is the world's fourth largest deposit of heavy rare earth metals. The find is unique because it contains unusually high levels of the most sought-after metals and almost completely lacks radioactive substances. – Without rare earth metals, there will be no green transition, Axel Sjöqvist states. In December, he defended his thesis, which was about this geological find.
On a shelf in his study, he has a large
rock with green and pink stripes. The rock type is called nepheline syenite and Axel Sjöqvist was the first to carry out a proper analysis of the stone using modern methods. – The rock is 1.5 billion years old and unlike most other rocks, it does not contain quartz. It is also rare; there are only about a hundred sites in the entire world, and in Sweden only the one in Norra Kärr. Because the site where the candy-striped rock was found, is close to Gränna, it is sometimes called grännait. But I don't think that's appropriate because it could be confused with granite. Rare earth metals comprise a group of 17 elements, of which 16 occur naturally.
However, despite the name, they are not very rare but are found almost everywhere in the earth's crust, Axel Sjöqvist explains. – On the other hand, it is rare to find them in sufficiently high concentrations to make it profitable to mine them. The metals are also often found together with radioactive substances, such as uranium and thorium, which makes mining both expensive and difficult. But the find in Norra Kärr contains almost no radioactive substances and will therefore be particularly interesting to extract. It was in the late 18th and early 19th centuries that scientists began to discover the rare earth metals. A large number of the elements were actually discovered
