Critical article...1 Jun 2021 20:19
Martin Berg: Mining policy threat to a green future
Mining companies are long-term players, but Swedish mining policy is starting to make them give up.
SWEDEN 1 JUNE 2021 05:00
This is an editorial. The article expresses the newspaper's opinion - forming line. Norrbottens-Kuriren's political etiquette is moderate.
A noticeably tired Mikael Staffas, CEO of the mining company Boliden, stated in an interview with DI (28/8): "We are building up a portfolio of potential investments. This also includes Swedish projects, but unfortunately those investments are the most difficult to obtain a permit. "While we are waiting, we are looking more deeply at other countries".
The day before Christmas Eve, the government put a stop to the company's plans to open a copper mine in Laver in Norrbotten. Then Boliden had waited for four years for a message.
Or ask Kurt Budge, CEO of the British mining company Beowulf. He has been waiting for over ten years for information on what will happen to an iron ore mine in Kallak. In the meantime, the company has invested approximately SEK 80 million in trying to satisfy all conflicting interests.
It went so far that the Constitutional Committee criticized the government for not spending a minute or three years processing Beowulf's application. It is perhaps therefore not so strange that it has not opened a single new mine in Sweden in 13 years and that we are collapsing in international mine rankings for countries worth investing in.
With these long time spans, the conditions also have time to change. A decision is appealed and a new ruling puts an end to everything. Or it may be a new national interest that must be taken into account or weighed against another. All of a sudden no one knows what applies anymore.
And when the legal positions are locked, the various cases end up in the lap of the government. Had it been up to the Social Democrats, the matter would have been clear, but according to information, they do not dare to touch the Sami reindeer husbandry and the power relationship to the Green Party. It is too sensitive and therefore it was no for Boliden.
Of course, mines must undergo proper environmental assessments, but as things stand, Swedish mining policy has developed into a ravine of unpredictability that prevents Sweden from taking advantage of its green resources.
At the same time, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has recently stated that world demand for so-called innovation-critical metals and minerals will explode in the next two decades. These are substances that are absolutely crucial for the ongoing green transition and a must in the engines and batteries of electric cars, or in wind turbines and new power lines.
The IEA also points to a future "frightening" large gap between supply and demand, and notes that the world is largely dependent on China for supply and processing.
Surveys by SGU show that Sweden's bedrock has plenty of these sub
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