Sweden-based advanced iron ore products producer LKAB has been granted an environmental permit for the new mine at Gruvberget, near the village of Svappavaara in the municipality of Kiruna, Sweden. The company plans to start production in late May.
The ruling by the Environmental Court means that LKAB can move ahead with plans to increase production of finished products by 10 million mt per year, a company statement said.
"We are aiming for 37 million mt, and Gruvberget will be an important step towards reaching that target. We must do this to be able to keep pace with our customers who wish to grow. Since the completion of our investments in new pelletizing plants and upgraded logistics, the mines have been the bottleneck in the chain of production. Quite simply, we need more iron ore," LKAB president Lars-Eric Aaro said.
The new mine will be operated as an open-pit mine and will generate about 30-40 new jobs in Svappavaara. The plan is to gradually increase production to 2 million mt of crude ore per year. The ore body contains bodies of both magnetite and hematite, but only the magnetite will be mined initially.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in 2010 LKAB plans to start work for the exploitation of two more iron ore mines in Sweden that represent, in total, 300 million mt of iron ore with an iron content of nearly 60 percent.