Application for a new operating permit submitted

Today at 15.00 our application for a new operating permit was submitted to the Land and Environment Court in Umeå.

Kaunis Iron is applying for a permit for the existing operations in Kaunisvaara, Pajala Municipality and to begin mining operations in the nearby deposits Sahavaara and Palotieva. At full capacity operations will be more than doubled. Kaunis Iron today produces approximately 2 million tonnes of iron ore product per year for customers all over the world. When the new permit is in place the company will be able to deliver approximately 5 million tonnes a year.

In our application we describe the effects of our planned operations in a sustainability perspective. We present extensive investigations showing the environmental and socio-economic results of current operations and how the operations for which we are applying will affect the future sustainable development of the company, and the surrounding community. The reports in our application show that both current and future operations meet the most stringent environmental demands at the same time as the operations bring important beneficial socio-economic effects for individuals and the community. Current and planned operations meet the requirements of Sweden’s work on Agenda 2030, all environmental quality goals, and the requirements set in a Natura 2000 examination.

Since start-up last summer, Kaunis Iron has built up an operation which today, together with our partners, employs over 350 people within its gates. In addition, outside the gates, more than 100 people are employed in different service functions needed to run a functioning mining company. Together we add up to almost 500 people who every day contribute to the delivery of iron ore product intended to build prosperity worldwide. With the new mines in operation, there are ore reserves for a further 10 to 15 years’ operations. The area immediately surrounding Kaunisvaara has many iron ore deposits with the potential to create conditions for long-term mining operations locally. Kaunis iron has already begun this important prospecting work.

In the past year, Kaunis Iron has invested heavily in compiling all the necessary information to ensure a complete and fair description of our planned operations. And we have done this job inside a year. Now it is the court that sets the timetable. An effective and quick licensing process should be self-evident in Sweden, since long drawn-out processes risk large investments by individuals, companies and communities. We hope that by next summer we will have a new permit in place.