Swedish mining company: That is why we do not dare to invest in Sweden
Photo: Per Larsson / TT
Nickel is an important component in the transition to electric vehicles.Storuman is home to one of Europe's largest unexploited deposits, but complicated regulations and slow permitting processes are stopping the Swedish mining company Bluelake Mineral."We have collapsed as a mining nation," the CEO told TN.
The mining development company Bluelake Mineral AB wants to develop Rönnbäcken in Storuman.There is one of Europe's largest unexploited nickel deposits.
Rönnbäcken has a mineral resource of approximately 668 million tonnes with a production potential of approximately 25,000 tonnes of high-quality nickel concentrate annually for 20 years.A mine establishment is estimated, for example, to be able to cover a large proportion of Northvolt's annual nickel requirements in the manufacture of batteries for electric cars and energy storage.
Peter Hjorth, CEO, Bluelake Mineral AB, tells Tidningen Näringslivet about how complicated regulations and increasingly slow processes make it difficult to invest in mining in Sweden.
- Nickel is a very important component in the conversion to electric vehicles.It is better from an environmental perspective that extraction takes place in Sweden instead of us importing it from other continents, says Peter Hjorth.
Can mean 1,000 jobs
The project would also mean many jobs in the municipality.
- If we start the mine, we would need to employ 400 people at once.Then you can say that mining investments generate at least as many indirect jobs, so it is perhaps up to 1,000 jobs.The project could contribute to both global climate benefits and regional development.
Image: Press image
But the permit processes are long and unpredictable.
- The government decided on three processing concessions for Rönnbäcken already in 2010 and 2012. Since then, the project has been dormant due to low nickel prices.Now the nickel prices have recovered significantly and we want to investigate the possibilities of applying for an environmental permit to start mining operations.Then you need to do an extensive feasibility study with a number of supplementary investigations and a number of different samples.Then several different consultation bodies must be consulted before the decision can be approved by the environmental court.There is a risk that the case will be appealed and in the worst case, the process can take many years.
No one knows if the project will end
Behind every mining project is a lot of work and money that is put in without anyone knowing for sure if the project will get rid of or not.
- In many projects, tens of millions and lots of work are put in, without the companies knowing if they will receive the permits they need to start mining.Everything you do is speculation.It generally takes a very long time to get information, at the same time as the companies have large costs.
Peter Hjorth wants more transparency and predictability in the processes.
- If you can show that mining can be established in a socio-economically and environmentally reasonable way and without significantly harming other interests, then you should get permission to start, it does not look like today.Obtaining a permit has become even more difficult in recent years, depending on the composition of the government.Take the iron ore project Kallak for example, it has been on the government's table for several years without results, it does not seem that they want new mines to open in Sweden.
Rages in ranking
Peter Hjorth is concerned that investors are shying away from the Swedish mining market due to the great uncertainty.
- We have collapsed as a mining nation in international measurements.It depends on the unpredictable processes.Investors want to invest where you get a return on your capital, not in countries where you do not know if the investment will lead to something.
The issue is becoming increasingly relevant due to the environmental change.
- If you are serious about the green environmental change, we must have local mines that can deliver critical inputs such as copper, zinc and nickel to electric vehicles and batteries.The recovery of minerals from electronics is not enough.If mines are not allowed here in Sweden, we hand over the responsibility for the supply of minerals and metals to other countries that often have less environmentally friendly mines and a poorer working environment.It is not to take global environmental responsibility.
The newspaper Näringslivet has repeatedly sought the Minister of Trade and Industry Ibrahim Baylan for a comment on the protracted permit processes in the mining industry.
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