Beach42I am only going to reply to the questionnaire once, no...

Beach42

I am only going to reply to the questionnaire once, no follow on are we there yet type stuff. I am doing so because clearly some are too idle to do their own homework and just spout out endless questions and cast misleading allusions.

Most of what I am about to say has already been provided in previous posts by myself and others overseas on the ground in Sweden.

First and foremost the area of the mine site is NOT a Natura 2000 designated area as evidenced by the submission to the Swedish authorities. The area is a heavily logged site that falls well out of the pristine conditions required for Natura 2000. The aerial video shows this aspect quite clearly

Mining for 6 months of the year is not a common practice in Sweden to my knowledge, but shows TLG's flexibility by being prepared to go halfway in its submission so that it is able to demonstrate that it is considerate of the other claims on the area. The Swedish authorities are required to take all claims into account and come to a balanced conclusion, furthermore as the area has been declared of National Significance considerable weight must be given to the TLG application.

The main interest of the Sami people is the reindeer husbandry, which is also recognised by the Swedish authorities of being of National Significance. Limiting mining activity to the summer months when the reindeer are out of the area responds to both important claims on the area. The reindeer routes are outside the mining area, they are along the Torne River to the South well outside the mining area and well to the North of Niska North on the other side of the Vitangi River.

The initial trial mine was to recover sufficient graphitic material to progress TLG's work for a PFS and then a DFS to be completed. The submission for an exploitation licence was made in May 2020 when all these aspects were satisfactorily resolved.

LKAB is indeed a state entity, which would have added some weight to the project, but not to the extent that control might have been lost. In the event LKAB walked away because it had bigger fish to fry as evidenced by statements to the Swedish press provided on this forum. The fact that LKAB is a Swedish entity does not guarantee success in a submission as the Swedish authorities are bound to demonstrate an even hand in the assessment of an application. Talga AB is a Swedish company even though it is a 100% subsidiary of TLG.

The Swedish authorities are considering the application on its merits in the context of other claims on the area and submissions from the community are now closed. In my opinion the demonstration was poorly attended with little evidence of the Sami people who would generally do so in their ethnic costume to emphasise their claim on the area, which suggests that on the whole they are on board. The video does not show 120 people even counting the babes in arms and the pet dogs, it looked more like at most 40 people representing 5% of Vitangi's population. Lake Hosiojarvi does not flow into either of the Torne River or the Vitangi River in accordance with the submission.

The granting of the exploitation licence will be given once the Swedish authorities have concluded their review. Clearly Covid has slowed some of this down, but the changing political landscape with regard to mining licences has shifted considerably as reported in other posts on this forum. I have already stated elsewhere on this forum that TLG will have comfortably sufficient material to process until the end of 2022 at the very least and probably a few months into 2023.