Kaunis Iron's environmental permit under review

In December 2022, Kaunis Iron received an environmental permit for expanded and extended mining operations in Pajala municipality.

"We had obviously hoped that leave to appeal would not be granted as we basically think that the judgment from the Land and Environmental Court was well prepared and meets the requirements for a modern environmental permit," says Klas Dagertun, CEO of Kaunis Iron in a press release.

The judgment was appealed by several private individuals and organizations in Sweden. But no Swedish authorities appealed. However, the NMT center in Finnish Lapland did. The NMT centers are national regional authorities in Finland responsible for economic, traffic and environmental issues.

On Tuesday, the Land and Environment Court of Appeal (Mark- och miljööverdomstolen) granted leave to appeal. This means that the case will be heard by the Land and Environment Court of Appeal. No reason is given for granting leave to appeal.

This is a disappointment for Kaunis Iron, but the company can still continue to develop its operations.

"With the enforcement order issued, we can still continue the preparations and commissioning of the flotation plant that is being built and feel confident that we will eventually receive a permit that enables expanded and extended mining operations in Tornedalen," says Klas Dagertun.

Lennart Håkansson

editor@northswedenbusiness.com