This is by far the most important milestone for Talga to date.
We know:
- The resource is the largest and highest grade in Europe
- Talga's project economics are extremely strong with low cost to produce
- Renewable energy and 96% lower carbon emissions than incumbent anode
- Advanced stages of qualification with multiple OEMs and market leading performance
- Being appraised for 300 million euros of funding from the EIB along with funding options from other EU financial institutions
- Significant potential for expansion with market demand 10x current plans
- Critical Raw Material Act and Net Zero Act passed
- Possible extension of US Inflation Reduction Act to apply to EU companies
But none of it mattered without permits. As others have banged on about here in the past, it was all about the permits. While the government could have stepped in if it was unsuccessful, the SP would have been hammered and this would have definitely caused lengthy delays and probably further dilution for shareholders.
There is still likely to be an appeal, and Talga need the refinery environmental permit, concession permit, and building plan, but this environmental permit was the big gate and the rest are likely to be smaller hurdles from here.
The court rightly took into account the reccomendations from Talga and the County Administrative Board that waste water could be managed to an acceptable level, and the area was designated as winter grazing for the reindeer and both could co-exist with mining only to take place in the summer months.
I see it as highly unlikely there would be grounds for a successful appeal. The primary argument of the Sami appears to be that it was only for Stage 1 and future expansions should have been considered by the court. I really don't see this as a strong argument as Talga's future plans are not yet finalised, how could they be considered now. Each future permit application should be considered on it's merits at that time, and in conjuction with the existing mining operations.
I'm not surprised the SP hasn't gone gangbusters today, this announcement was largely a de-risker and it paves the way for the follow up announcements that will have a far greater impact on the share price - offtakes, funding, expansion plans.
I wouldn't want to be selling now and expect some of these announcements have been waiting for the environmental permit to come through and are not far behind.
(20min delay)