LKAB's application already announced

LKAB submitted the application for an environmental permit on December 20, 2024. The fact that it has already been announced is considered an unusually fast handling of such a case in Sweden.

"The fact that the court has now announced our application is an important step in the process and gives us clearer conditions for planning ahead. The fact that the application has been announced so quickly is a sign of strength for the work we have put in over four years. It also shows that the case is being handled with good progress by the court,” says Darren Wilson, Director of the Special Products business area at LKAB.

LKAB's application concerns an environmental permit to conduct large-scale industrial operations and port operations on Svartön in Luleå. Waste from iron ore production in Gällivare, where apatite concentrates are produced for further processing in Luleå, will be used. The next step, which will take place in Luleå, is to produce phosphorus and rare earth elements, with gypsum as a by-product. The operations will be gradually scaled up to full operation in the 2030s.

The industrial park in Luleå could be the first of its kind in Europe, with the potential to meet seven times the phosphorus needs of Swedish agriculture. At the same time, it provides the opportunity to extract rare earth metals used in electric cars and wind turbines, among other things.Necessary products for electrification and strengthened competitiveness in Sweden and Europe.

The next step in the permitting process for the industrial park is an oral hearing that will be held in Umeå in April this year.

Lennart Håkansson

editor@northswedenbusiness.com