22nd Jan 2024 11:49
(Alliance News) - Beowulf Mining PLC received an endorsement from the Swedish government on Monday, as it declared the company's planned Kallak operations a matter of "national interest".
Shares in the Sweden, Finland and Kosovo-focused mining company were up 27% at 1.65 pence each in London on Monday morning.
In March 2022, Beowulf's subsidiary Jokkmokk Iron Mines AB was awarded an exploitation concession to target iron ore deposits at Kallak in the north of Sweden.
While the exploitation concession provided exclusive mining rights to Jokkmokk, operating rights would require three additional permits, the company has said.
In June 2022, lawyers for the indigenous Sami community of Jahkagasska Tjiellde announced that they would be asking for legal action against the Swedish government following the decision.
In the June press release, the residents' lawyers explained that Jokkmokk's proposed mining operations would take place in the Sami village's winter grazing area, cutting the village in two, producing "devastating" consequences for local reindeer husbandry and posing a threat to the surrounding Sami culture. Applications were sent to the Swedish supreme administrative court to review the decision to grant an exploitation concession for the Kallak region.
Following oral hearings in September, the government issued a statement on Thursday endorsing the original decision to award the licence, "further emphasising its support for the project", Beowulf said.
In its statement, the government described the iron deposit contained at Kallak as "Sweden's largest known undeveloped deposit of so-called quartz-banded iron ore". It also said that support for mining of the region was a matter of "national interest", given the fact that Sweden produces 93% of all iron ore in the European Union.
It claimed that the ore in the Kallak Deposit is necessary for the green transition, as well as offsetting metal supply chain disruptions caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"From a total defence perspective", the statement continued, "it is important that Sweden has commercial goods and iron of the kind found in Kallak."
Beowulf stated that the government's position will be considered by the court alongside the submissions of the appealing party, and expects a decision to be reached within the first half of 2024.
Beowulf noted that neither it, nor its subsidiary Jokkmokk, are party to the legal action directed against the Swedish government.
By Hugh Cameron, Alliance News reporter
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