I think the shouting about permits, permits or even PERMITS...

I think the shouting about permits, permits or even PERMITS should be addressed in the proper thread.

Now I do not deny that permits are essential for the successful progress of the TLG project in Northern Sweden and I have laid out arguments on this thread and elsewhere on the subject.

I have already stated in previous posts that any new announcements initiates an immediate reassessment of the state of affairs.

My first question would be why was this announcement not included in yesterday's announcement. The only reason I can think of at this juncture that TLG wanted the focus to be on the second trial mine as opposed to the drilling campaign announced yesterday; and the Niska submission in particular. My next question is why Niska South rather than say Nunavaara North or Niska North. A satellite view shows easy access from an existing track and well away from the reindeer migration pinch point between the Torne River and the TLG tenement at Nunasvaara to the North. As an aside I also note from the overhead satellite view that most of the area appears to be degraded forest.

I also note that the amount to be extracted appears to be quite small, at 10% of the overall 3 year trial extraction permit of 25,000 tons. My immediate reaction is why would you bother to mobilise equipment for the equivalent of 100 25 ton truck loads of ore? The only reason might be that this is the first step to establishing a portal for underground mining, which must include LKAB as TLG do not have that expertise. This would fast track the extraction of the remaining 90% or 22,500 tons in 2022. This would achieve two purposes, the first to demonstrate the extremely small environmental footprint of the portal (many underground car park entrances are bigger than a mining portal) and lay the foundation for stage 2 exploitation that was applied for yesterday. In conversations with TLG I have questioned the underground aspect, which usually includes an excavated ramp. TLG intend to drive straight into the hill without the need of such a ramp. This makes sense as the deposit at Vitangi is sub vertical so that all the access drives would be underground rather than at the surface.

Naturally, the site is to be remedied at its conclusion, as TLG has demonstrated previously for its quarry style trial mine of 5,000 tons. The TLG submission for underground extraction for Nunasvaara North, Niska South and North is in the works and it would be interesting if the authorities insisted on that remedial work to be undertaken immediately at the conclusion of the remaining 22,500 tons mined or at the end of the three year trial mine permit by which time the current submission might have progressed to a stage where the current portal is integrated into the mine plan for underground extraction.