Exploration work and its impact on the environment

The transition to greener energy and the development of new electronics with smart features require a larger variety of metals as well as more metals in weight. The geopolitical situation in the world does not allow us to depend on other countries to provide all the resources we need. We must mine more within Europe and to mine other minerals and metals than we historically have focused on. The exploration work to find reserves possible to mine will increase and Sweden is one of the European countries where we expect to find reserves worth mining.

The purpose of this project is to increase the knowledge about environmental impacts caused by exploration activities for metals and minerals in Sweden. By harmonizing words used and analyse the environmental impact the different activities may have, we hope to increase the knowledge both within the industry as well as authorities and the public. With better knowledge, the permit processes may be more effective for the parties involved both in the number of hours spent and in calendar time. We foresee more transparent and predictable permit processes.

The outcome from the project will be guidelines explaining exploration activities and their environmental impact. There will be two versions – one aimed at exploration companies and authorities and one shorter easy-read version aimed at anyone in society wishing to understand more about exploration activities.

The project is financed by the Swedish innovation program Impact Innovation Metals and Minerals via Vinnova and the participating consortium of companies. The participating companies are: Agnico Eagle Sweden AB, Boliden Mineral AB, EMX Scandinavia AB, Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB and Zinkgruvan Mining AB.

To the project we will connect one or two reference groups with the purpose to help the project to develop documents with relevant content for the people active in permitting processes and the society respectively. We hope the guidelines will answer the questions about the exploration activities and the environmental impact they may have.