Sweden provides qualified green light for the northern Kallak iron ore mine
STOCKHOLM, March 22 (Reuters) – On Tuesday, the Swedish government gave a qualified green light to British Beowulf Mining to proceed with the plans for an iron ore mine in the far north that has been opposed by the indigenous population due to its environmental impact.
Beowulf can now start economic and environmental studies and apply to an environmental court to start processing ore, but it must meet a number of environmental and other conditions that the government attached to its approval.
Critics say the mine in Kallak, also known as Gallok, would jeopardize a protected ecosystem and block the reindeer’s migration.
– I think it will be a mine here, says Minister of Trade and Industry Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson to reporters. “I would say that the biggest obstacle is the environmental study, because it is quite complicated in Sweden.”
Thorwaldsson said that there were a number of regulatory steps for the company to pass before the mine could start its operations.
The plans for the mine have been opposed by the indigenous Sami people, who have the support of UN rights experts and the UN cultural organization UNESCO, as well as climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
“Sweden pretends to be a leader for the environment and human rights, but at home they violate the rights of indigenous peoples and continue to wage a war against nature,” Thunberg said on Twitter after the government’s decision. “The world will remember this.”
(Reporting by Simon Johnson; Editing by Edmund Blair)