23rd Sep 2016 07:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - Beowulf Mining PLC on Friday again said it believes it has carried out all the necessary work to obtain the all-important exploitation concession for the Kallak North iron ore project in Sweden, but the miner is still waiting for it to be awarded.
The miner has been attempting to secure the concession for Kallak North for a long time. The mining inspectorate of Sweden recommended the concession should have been awarded almost a year ago.
One of the main reasons for the delay was a fundamental change at the start of July, when the Swedish government asked the mining inspectorate to review the company's application in the context of a recent supreme administrative court judgement in Sweden in the case of the Norra Karr project.
That relates to the judgement by that court in February that Tasman Metal Ltd's mining lease for Norra Karr be cancelled on the basis that environmental studies did not adequately support future mining operation at the site.
Until that point, future mining operation analysis would have been done at the environmental permitting stage and not the environmental impact assessment stage, and the decision criteria for the exploitation concession had been limited to the concession area. However, the decision had meant the criteria would be expanded.
Beowulf had welcomed the proposals to review its own application in that context in order to avoid any disputes or problems further down the line.
At that time in early August, the company said it was "looking for transparency and a definite timeline" from officials on the concession, yet the timing of award looks as uncertain as it ever has.
Less than a month later, Beowulf stepped up its efforts and stressed it had not been "sitting on our hands" as it tried to hold talks with officials and encourage a decision to be made.
On Friday, Beowulf reiterated numerous points about its application but it appears to be no closer to securing the concession than it did earlier this year.
Following the landmark case concerning the Norra Karr case, Beowulf's own project was being evaluated on that basis.
"All the activities associated with a mine at Kallak, and their environmental effects, have been comprehensively studied as part of the environmental impact assessment for the project. The EIA has also been reviewed in full by the County Administrative Board, during the period from April 2013 to October 2014," said the miner.
"In the letter, we have reaffirmed the commitment we made back in November 2014, in response to the concerns raised by the County Administrative Board in October 2014 about a specific transport corridor under consideration, to eliminate the transport corridor that passes in a north/north-easterly direction through the Jelka-Rimakabba Natura 2000 area," Beowulf added.
Chief Executive Kurt Budge said on Friday that the company is "asking for transparency on timeline and process to a decision being made".
Beowulf shares were down 2.1% to 4.16 pence per share on Friday.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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