Ihlen and 3 co-authors reported in 2014 that apatite is a necessity for the production of phosphorus fertilizers and presents a potential raw material for the extraction of REE and Y. A wide spectrum of apatite deposits is found in Norway including sedimentary, igneous, and vein type deposits. The igneous deposits which appear to have the greatest potential for mining occur associated with alkaline complexes, massif-type anorthosite complexes and monzonitic complexes. One of the most promising is found in the monzonoritic Bjerkreim–Sokndal Layered Intrusion of the early Neoproterozoic Rogaland Anorthosite Province in southwest Norway.
The intrusion hosts three cumulate units with highgrade ore zones. The most promising resource is confined to MCU IV which is 50–170 m thick and nearly 10 km long with average normative contents of 10.2% apatite, 12.4% ilmenite and 7.3% vanadium-rich magnetite. The late Neoproterozoic–Cambrian carbonatite-bearing alkaline complexes are generally of low grade to represent potential resources of apatite as the sole commodity. However, apatite may represent a byproduct of potential Nb and REE + Y mineralisation in the Fen Complex in southern Norway. The late Ordovician–Silurian Misværdal complex comprising multiple alkali clinopyroxenite intrusions in the Uppermost Allochthon of the Caledonides in northern Norway contains 1–1.5 km long and 100–200 m wide ultrapotassic clinopyroxenite dykes with average contents of 7–10 wt.% apatite and with intermediate levels of TREY (~0.5 wt.%). However, high levels of Th in the apatite make it less suitable as a raw material for fertilizer production. Apatite–Fe–Ti oxide ores being characteristic for the monzonitic complexes are especially well developed in the Permian Oslo Igneous Province where apatite-rich magnetite clinopyroxenite cumulates are found in the Larvik Plutonic Complex.
The Kodal body has an inferred open-pit ore reserve calculated to 70 Mt with approximately 11.6 wt.% apatite, 3.0 wt.% ilmenite and 26.5 wt.% ilmenomagnetite. The apatite contains about 1 wt.% REE. Comparable types of deposits of Palaeoproterozoic age have recently been recognized in the alkali-calcic mangeritic (a hypersthene-bearing monzonite) to syenitic intrusions in the Lofoten–Vesterålen Mangerite Complex in northern Norway, whereas complexes with variable proportions of anorthosites (s.s.), jotunites and mangerites occurring in the Middle Allochthon of the Caledonides in South Norway also are known to host apatite-bearing Fe–Ti oxide deposits, some high in apatite. These complexes represent potential areas for green-field exploration. The TREY (TREE + Y) contents of the apatite in the igneous deposits comprise very low levels in the Bjerkreim–Sokndal Layered Intrusion, intermediate levels in the carbonatites and pyroxenites of the alkaline complexes as well as nelsonite dykes and mangerite-associated deposits to high levels in the monzonite-associated deposits.
The authors concluded that Norway exhibits a wide spectrum of different genetic types of apatite deposits ranging in age from the Palaeoproterozoic to the Permian. The sedimentary deposits of phosphorites and stratiform volcanogenic Fe–P ores are generally narrow and of low-grade, and their potential resources are very small and comparable to estimated resources of the numerous vein-type deposits (Kiruna-type Fe–P, metasomatic). Major resources of apatite are only found among the igneous deposits comprising alkaline complexes, massif-type anorthosite complexes and monzonitic complexes. The latter two representing apatite–Fe–Ti ores are the most interesting and occur associated with jotunitic intrusions in the RAP, mangeritic intrusions in the LVMC, JVNC and MBA and monzonitic intrusions in the Larvik Plutonic Complex of the OIP.
The apatite in the monzonite- and mangerite-associated deposits contains extractable levels of TREE (>6000 ppm), which are higher than the normal levels for TREE in apatite from alkaline complexes (3700–6000 ppm) and much higher than the levels for apatite in the BKSK of the RAP (1400–1500 ppm). The BKSK has resources exceeding 300 Mt with average normative contents of 8.3–10.5% apatite, 12.5–15.2% ilmenite and 21.7–23.5% V-magnetite. The Larvik Plutonic Complex hosting the Kodal deposit contains widespread small occurrences of high-REE apatite ores which are comparable to those in the LVMC, JVNC and MBA where detailed data are missing. The Kodal deposit has ore reserves calculated to 70 Mt with 4.9 wt.% P2O5 (open pit operation) or alternatively 35 Mt with 6.8 wt.% P2O5 (underground operation). The Kodal apatite contains about 1 wt.% TREY which may add extra value to the deposit.
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