SAMIS/MINES

Samis eager to avoid clashes after major rare earths find in northern Sweden

The biggest discovery of rare earths is located in a natural area, which the indigenous Samis are eager to defend.

Photo: Christian Mang

BY RITZAU, TRANSLATED BY CHRISTOFFER ØSTERGAARD

Clashes broke out between Swedish police and protesters when the indigenous Samis, supported by climate activist Greta Thunberg, tried to put a stop to the Kallak mine in northern Sweden.

The Samis are eager to avoid a similar situation, at first by raising objections to a new mine near Kiruna north of the Polar Circle. So says former president of Sweden’s Sami Parliament, Stefan Mikaelsson.

”We don’t want any additional extraction of natural resources. We want to protect our way of life and biodiversity in the Artic Region. That’s vital to people on the continent as well,” says Mikaelsson to Ritzau.

His remarks come in the aftermath of Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB’s discovery of the biggest deposit of rare earths in Europe.

Such can be used as elements in electric vehicles and wind turbines. Today, extraction of these materials is almost exclusively concentrated in China.

LKAB and Swedish Minister of Energy Ebba Busch say that the discovery has a potentially huge impact on Europe’s endeavors to gain more independence from China.

For the Samis in northern Sweden, a potential expansion of mining operations has become a question of survival. Many Samis make a living as reindeer herders, and the mines make it difficult to herd the animals to areas where they can find food, according to Mikaelsson.

At the same time, warmer weather attributed to climate change, to which the energy-intensive mining operations contribute, poses yet another challenge.

As a result of rising temperatures, melting snow generates a layer of ice which makes it impossible for the reindeer to steer across because of their hoofs, as they seek out feeding grounds.

”We can express our concerns in a proper manner. But we naturally can’t trump people outside of the Sami Parliament. And we know from Gallök (the Sami name for Kallak, -ed) that protests might lead to unpleasant scenes with police violently attacking protesters with no clue about the situation,” says Mikaelsson.

The Sami Parliament is a government authority, which manages its own funds, and a parliament, which seeks to act in the interest of the Sami people.

As a result, the Samis have a chance to be heard in relation to the expansion of Kiruna mining operations.

”You can object to the permit, and the Sami Parliament is a stakeholder when it comes to issuing permits. But the decision lies with the Swedish authorities,” says Mikaelsson:

”And we’ve noted that when the Swedish state processes these sorts of cases, they do so in a manner that advances the state’s interests. Even if they take it a step further than legislation permits. That’s happened quite often.”

Based on the statements made by Busch, there is hardly any chance for Samis’ attempts to obstruct the new mine.

During the EU Commission’s visit to Sweden Thursday, Busch made it clear that the mine will materialize out of consideration to all of the EU. And Mikaelsson doesn’t dispute this:

”We want to be part of the solution rather than being part of the problem. And so we must respect other people’s opinions,” he says.