Nine hours north of Sweden’s capital is an old mining town known as Lapland.

And it’s there that a Perth-based mining company struck hidden riches from over 100 years ago.

Lapland is home to Europe’s largest rock collection, an archive full of core samples -some over 100 years old- that many had forgotten about.

Seven years ago, Australian company Talga Resources became curious about the archives and wondered what other precious minerals hid within the samples.

And their curiosity well and truly paid off.

“We start by looking at the geology of the country,” Managing Director of Talga Resources Mark Thompson tells Ross Greenwood.

“Then we go look at where the drill holes are.

“By 2012 we were starting to peg what has now become Sweden’s largest cobalt deposit.”

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The discovery has pumped new life into the Swedish economy.

“It’s brought a lot of new investment into the country, it’s brought new technology into the country.”