Excerpt from the judgement (Google translate):The Land and...

Excerpt from the judgement (Google translate):

The Land and Environment Court has today rejected Dragon Mining (Sweden) AB's application for a permit for mining gold in Fäbodliden. The negative effects of the mine and ore transports to Svartliden will be too great.

Dragon Mining (Sweden) AB has applied to mine gold in opencast mines and underground in an amount of 500,000 tonnes of ore per year and to deposit 22 million tonnes of waste rock above ground. The ore was to be transported by truck to the company's concentrator in Svartliden about 30 kilometers away. The number of ore transports was estimated at about 140 vehicle movements per day between 06.00-24.00. This means a passing vehicle every 8 minutes and a traffic increase of heavy traffic by more than four times. The road goes through the villages Vinliden, Björkberg, Norrbäck Liden and Norrbäck. It is only 6.2 meters wide, lacks the roadside and is used as a walking path in all villages. Road lighting is sparse or lacking. The court believes that there will be too great safety risks for unprotected road users and too much noise for those who live near the road. The company believes that protective measures for this are on the road operator.

The reindeer herding industry in the area has previously been strained by, among other things, several licensed wind farms and it is difficult to conduct sustainable reindeer husbandry even with these conditions. The court assesses that the impact on reindeer husbandry from the mining operations with the ore transports will further fragment the area and the opportunities to conduct sustainable reindeer husbandry in the area risk being lost.