Talga to mine graphite in Vittangi

The ruling allows the mining company to mine 120 000 tons of graphite per year. The graphite will be used to produce material for anodes for batteries. This production will take place in a new factory in Luleå on the Gulf of Bothnia coast.

The mining operation in Vittangi and the factory in Luleå will have a total of about 150 employees. If the environmental permit gains legal force, production in Vittangi could start in 2025. But first, any appeals must be awaited.

There are many indications that the Sami villages concerned and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation will appeal.Three Sami villages participated in the court process. They argued that the mine will have a negative impact on reindeer husbandry, and that the mining operation infringes the civil and political rights of the Sami as an indigenous people.

However, the court ruled that mining and reindeer husbandry can coexist as mining is limited to six months a year, when there are no reindeer in the area.

Graphite mining in Vittangi is seen as part of the EU's efforts to ensure that Europe is not dependent on buying graphite from China.

Australia's Talga Group, which includes Sweden's Talga AB, is a global mining company that mines and enriches graphite ore into graphite and graphene products, which are used in the manufacture of environmentally friendly solutions in batteries, carbon fiber composites and in the coating of many materials for increased sustainability.

In Nunasvaara, the company has found one of the world's best deposits of graphite.

"This graphite deposit is absolutely world-class and of a rarely seen quality globally, perhaps the best ever. The Vittangi project has already proven from existing tests that it is the largest and most pure graphite deposit in Europe. The new area that we have now tested opens up for even more long-term solutions," said Talga's CEO Mark Thompson when analyzing the deposit in 2019.

Talga can now move forward with plans for mining and manufacturing of anode materials.

"We have now completed one of the major processes. Now we will enter more processes, including court proceedings regarding our anode factory in Luleå. But our ambition is to build Europe's best factory for the production of anodes to electrify the automotive industry," says Per-Erik Lindvall, chairman of the board of Swedish Talga AB, to Dagens Nyheter.

Lennart Håkansson

editor@northswedenbusiness.com