LKAB seeks environmental permit to start the transition

In the Hybrit project, which LKAB runs together with SSAB and Vattenfall, a demonstration plant will be built to produce carbon-free sponge iron on an industrial scale as a raw material for the steel industry.

The new apatite plant in Gällivare will extract phosphorus and rare earth elements from existing waste. The apatite concentrate will then be further processed into phosphorus and rare earth metals in LKAB's planned industrial park in Luleå.

“Our application is a decisive factor for us as a company, for Gällivare, for the region, for Sweden and for Europe’s future. We are now in the midst of the biggest transition in LKAB’s history and there is no time to lose. We have an ambitious schedule and it is critical that we and society show that we are together capable of addressing complicated issues, which are often implicit in environmental permit applications, while at the same time hastening the transition. It all starts in the mine; without mines, there can be no fossil-free steel, no electric vehicles and no wind turbines,” says Jan Moström, President and Group CEO, LKAB.

At the same time, LKAB is applying for a construction judgment to be able to start some construction work before the environmental permit is ready, in the same way as H2 Green Steel has done in Boden.

“The application for a new environmental permit for LKAB’s operation is not only central for the climate, but also for Gällivare’s future. We have an opportunity to be pioneers in the development of future ground-breaking technologies, both in the iron and steel industry and in the production of critical minerals for electric vehicles and wind turbines. This creates new green jobs that lay the foundation for positive societal development that benefits us as a municipality and the region,” says Birgitta Larsson, Gällivare’s municipal commissioner.

LKAB plans to invest up to SEK 400 billion over a ten-year period, to transform existing operations and develop and invest in new technology.

The Hybrids demonstration plant in Vitåfors outside Gällivare will produce 5.4 million tons of sponge iron per year and needs 5 TWh of electricity, mainly to produce hydrogen gas to replace the coal in the process. All products and processes will be carbon-free by 2045. The first step is to supply sponge iron to SSAB's electric arc furnaces in Oxelösund.

“Together with our partners LKAB and Vattenfall, we are writing a new chapter in the history of Swedish industry. HYBRIT’s demonstrator plant goes hand in hand with SSAB’s own green transition, since we are concurrently replacing our blast furnaces in Oxelösund with electric arc furnaces. The fossil-free sponge iron that will be produced in Gällivare will essentially cover demand from Oxelösund. Demand for fossil-free steel is increasing and I look forward to the day when we can start making commercial deliveries during 2026,” says Johnny Sjöström, Executive Vice President and Head of SSAB Special Steel Division.

Lennart Håkansson

editor@northswedenbusiness.com