LKAB has found more iron ore.

State owned LKAB's major investment in exploration in recent years is bearing fruit. Last year's discoveries increase iron ore reserves by 10 percent and mineral resources by 55 percent.

Iron ore reserves in Kiruna are increasing from around 700 to more than 800 million tonnes. This means that the current 1365 main level will have an extended life from 2035 to 2046. In Malmberget, reserves increase by 30 million tonnes to just under 300 million tonnes, which increases the life above the current main levels. In Svappavaara, reserves in the Leveäniemi mine decrease due to mining, but mineral resources in Gruvberget increase significantly.

LKAB has found large quantities of apatite, which contains phosphorus and is an important raw material for the production of mineral fertiliser. The finds also contain large quantities of rare earth metals, which are important for the green transition and are used in electric cars and wind turbines, for example.

"For the first time, we are reporting our rare earths assets, in addition to phosphorus, which was included last year. The volumes are large and the grades look promising," says Pierre Heeroma, Director of Exploration, Strategy and Business Development at LKAB.

In total, LKAB has today found reserves and mineral resources of about 4 billion tonnes in Svappavaara, Malmberget and Kiruna. Since the start in 1890, LKAB has mined a total of more than 2 billion tonnes.

"Since 2018, we have invested SEK 1.2 billion in exploration and in 2021 alone we have test-drilled the equivalent of 200 kilometres. Mineral resources increased considerably during 2020 and have increased further this year and now amount to a total of nearly 2.8 billion tonnes. The objective to secure mineral resources amounting to at least 1,000 million tonnes in Kiruna, 500 million tonnes in Malmberget and 250 million tonnes in Svappavaara has thereby been achieved, which means that we have good prerequisites for production up to 2060," says Pierre Heeroma.