Viscaria and Laevas Sami village reach agreement

The parties have agreed on the compensation to be paid for the impact of the mine on reindeer husbandry. The company and the Sami village have agreed to work together to improve the opportunities for both mining and reindeer herding in the Viscaria area.

The relationship between the parties shall be “characterized by openness, trust and consideration for each other's interests. The parties shall cooperate to avoid or limit the impact of mining activities on reindeer husbandry and on measures to achieve this,” the parties write in a joint press release.

“I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement and we look forward to working with the Laevas Sami village to create good conditions for both mining operations and reindeer husbandry. We continue our work to be able to reopen the mine in 2026,” says Jörgen Olsson, CEO of Viscaria.

The cooperation agreement initially extends over a period of 15 years and can then be extended by the parties. Laevas also has the right to terminate the agreement early.

“Laevas Sami village has made a big and difficult decision today and chosen to enter into a cooperation agreement with Viscaria. We look forward to a good dialog with the company going forward, says Niila Inga, chairman of Laevas sameby.

AB Viscaria is owned by the Swedish company Copperstone Resorces.

Where Viscaria plans to start mining copper ore, there has previously been a mine in operation. LKAB mined copper in Viscaria in 1983-1985, when Finnish 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