Viscaria mine can be restarted

Kiruna The Swedish company Copperstone Resources has been given the go-ahead by the Land and Environment Court to restart copper mining at the closed Viscaria mine outside Kiruna.

The Viscaria mine has been closed since 1997. After the judgement in the Land and Environment Court, Copperstone expects to start production within two years.

"The permit covers the mining of a maximum of 3.6 million tonnes of ore per year and is associated with conditions on, among other things, emissions to water and air, species protection, Natura 2000 and protection measures for reindeer husbandry," writes the Land and Environment Court in a press release.

The decisive factor for the permit was that Copperstone in an updated application changed the plans so that one of three planned open pits instead becomes an underground mine.

Production will be 30,000 tonnes of copper per year, with iron ore as a by-product. After the environmental permit, Copperstone will now try to raise SEK 5 billion in financing, of which SEK 2 billion in venture capital and SEK 3 billion in loans.

"Today's judgement means that the plan to reopen the Viscaria mine in 2026 remains firm," says Jörgen Olsson, CEO of Copperstone, in a press release.

LKAB mined copper in Viscaria from 1983-1985, when Outokumpu took over and operated the mine until 1997. Copperstone acquired the mine (Avalon Minerals Viscaria AB) in 2018 from Sunstone Metals Ltd Australia, which tried to restart the mine in 2008, but the financial crisis stopped that venture.

Lennart Håkansson

editor@northswedenbusiness.com