A thorny path to a new mine: "The entire chain must work"

The mining industry is of great importance both for the economy and the green transition. But the long and complicated permit processes are a bottleneck. – The entire chain must work for Sweden to become a more attractive mining nation, said Maria Sunér at Swemin at Region Norrbotten's webinar on the issue.

There is broad agreement that climate goals and the green transition are important. Sweden's bedrock contains the metals and minerals needed for the new technology that must be put in place. But who will be allowed to mine them, and when? The road to a new mine can take decades to navigate, through a thicket of various applications, consultations, court decisions, government contacts and appeals. The vast majority fall away along the way. In several places, efforts are now being made to try to find ways to make the processes faster and more predictable.

- There is no simple measure that solves all the problems in the Swedish system. It is quite complex and many different things come into play. The legislation itself, how you apply, how our authorities act. So there is a lot that can be done to simplify and improve. We have great hope for the investigations that are underway, said one of the webinar panelists, Maria Sunér, who is CEO of Swemin, a trade association for mines, mineral and metal producers in Sweden.

In October next year, one of these investigations is expected to land on the table of the Ministry of Enterprise, Innovation and Development. Helén Leijon is a special investigator for the investigation into innovation-critical metals and minerals. The assignment is two-fold. The first concerns the regulations and permit processes.

– What changes are needed to better take into account a project's local environmental impact and its societal benefit? Reduced global environmental impact is one such societal benefit. The rules and processes should not contain unnecessary obstacles to a mine establishment. At the same time, we should maintain our high environmental standards and respect for the needs of other land use stakeholders.

The second part of the investigation is about how the values ​​of the mining industry can benefit more people.

– There is a need for infrastructure investments, public services and housing that municipalities and regions may need to manage as a result of a mining establishment. We will therefore analyze how the public can benefit from the value that mining projects generate, says Helén Leijon.

Maria Sunér says that Swemin is working on its own proposal for a reform package. She believes that what happened this summer, with Cementa on Gotland, is an expression of the fact that there are system errors that must be corrected.

- It is very remarkable that, after 4,5 years in the process, a company receives the message that its application is not good enough, without clear directives on how to supplement it.

Among the reforms Swemin wants is an expanded mandate for the Mining Authority, the authority that handles matters related to exploration and extraction of minerals.

- The mining state would guide both the local stakeholders, but also the exploration companies, through this entire phase of investigations.
- The courts need to take a clearer grip on these processes. That their duty to investigate is clarified and that they in turn request statements from authorities. There is quite a lot here that can actually be addressed.
- Then we also see how certain legislation from the EU level has been implemented in Sweden in a way that makes it very difficult to actually get permits for things that affect nature and the environment. For example, the Species Habitats Directive has been implemented in such a way that it becomes individual protection rather than species protection.

Åsa Persson, who leads Bergsstaten, wishes that there would be clarity today about where each issue should be considered.
- Clarity is probably what I want to emphasize most. And speed at all levels so that cases don't get stuck in one place for years, that's not good for anyone.
- Appeals are a delay in themselves. Most of them lead nowhere, they just delay the process. We have municipalities that are not even the parties to the case but still appeal to make a political point.

She also highlights problems with dishonest applicants and substandard applications that require many rounds of completion. All of this takes time but yields nothing, she says.

Tomas Kuhmunen is GIS coordinator at the Sami Parliament. He believes that it is necessary to look at the combined effects of the mine together with infrastructure, wind power installations, forestry and tourism.

– These interact with each other and affect Sami culture and the reindeer herding industry's ability to use the landscape. The Sami Parliament is actively working to try to achieve a holistic view and not separate the material from the immaterial or the biological. Everything is connected in a large whole. There are recommendations coming from international sources, and within Sweden, that this holistic view should be developed. We need to develop and standardize how to take cumulative consequences into account in the process.

He highlights that there are international regulations for how consultations should be conducted and wishes that they be fully followed in Sweden.

- Then we should not forget that the Sami villages and to some extent also we at the Sami Parliament are already very heavily burdened by the administrative burden that comes from having to sit in consultation with everyone. There we must be prepared with time and opportunities for rights holders to fully participate in these processes.

Svante Axelsson is the national coordinator for Fossil-Free Sweden and works with permit processes in other industries. From the expansion of power lines, he has learned that a lot depends on how you handle people, and have the first dialogues in a good way so that you don't get affected people directly.

- An important part that has been neglected is to talk about the societal benefit. You have to go out and talk to all stakeholders that this is a natural consequence of welfare goals and climate goals. Metals must be picked up from Swedish soil to deal with the climate issue, there is no question about that. Then we must also be able to mine in new mines in Sweden. It is difficult to say that we will mine the metals in Africa and then we will change Sweden, that is not morally sustainable, says Svante Axelsson and raises the idea that it may be possible to solve certain problems economically.

- How do we handle the enormously difficult issues of water, slag and waste? Can the mines be made more adapted to the conflicts that we have, also against the reindeer industry and others? If that involves costs, I'm not so afraid. There is a willingness to pay. 25 percent more expensive steel is quite easy to sell according to SSAB. These metals will be in enormous demand and customers will demand sustainability in the mines. So the question is really what technological leaps can be made. It doesn't have to be the lowest price that applies to Swedish mines.

He demands that the entire Swedish government system must become less rigid and more dynamic.

– The authorities have an inability to guide and help with good processes. There is a strange lack of cooperation between authorities and the business community. A fear of contact that results in very long, unnecessary processes.

Svante Axelsson is supported by Maria Sunér.
- The authorities must not see themselves as opponents or prosecutors in this system, but must guide the applicant through this process. 

Watch the entire webinar afterwards