The mines: the ore, the EU's critical raw materials and the permits

The EU regulation on critical raw materials, the Critical Raw Materials Act, entered into force in 2024. The aim is that by 2030 the Union itself mines at least 10 per cent, processes 40 per cent and recycles 25 per cent of what it uses of the strategic raw materials, and gets no more than 65 per cent from any single country. Projects the EU names strategic are to get faster permitting, at most 27 months for a mine, and easier access to finance.

1. Per Geijer near Kiruna

   In January 2023 LKAB announced more than one million tonnes of rare earth oxides at Per Geijer, the largest known deposit in Europe. After more drilling the company reported in 2024 about 2.2 million tonnes in 1.2 billion tonnes of mineral resources, still only in the lowest confidence class. The metals are needed for magnets in wind turbines and electric motors, among other things. LKAB has said it may take 10 to 15 years before mining starts, mostly because of the permits.

   LKAB, press releases 12 January 2023 and 2024

2. The first list, March 2025

   The European Commission selected 47 strategic projects in the Union. Five were Swedish: LKAB's Per Geijer and Malmberget, LKAB's industrial park in Luleå that is to extract rare earth elements and phosphorus from mining waste, Talga's graphite project in Vittangi and Northvolt's battery recycling plant Revolt.

   European Commission, 25 March 2025; Svemin, 25 March 2025

3. The second list, October 2026

   In the second round the Commission selected 46 projects in 16 member states from 102 applications. From Sweden the Viscaria copper project near Kiruna was included. The call was opened in Kiruna in September 2025.

   European Commission, 9 October 2026

Regulation (EU) 2024/1252. A project being strategic does not mean it has its permits; it is still assessed under Swedish law.

Anyone who wants to look for ore applies to the Mining Inspectorate (Bergsstaten) for an exploration permit. Mining requires an exploitation concession, which tests whether the deposit can be mined profitably and whether the site is suitable, followed by an environmental permit from the Land and Environment Court. The table shows the permits in force at the end of 2025, by county.

Exploitation concessions applied for, granted and rejected each year. An application is often decided one or more years after it was filed.

1. Six to eight years

   According to LKAB it takes on average six to eight years to get all the permits for a mine in Sweden, longer than in Finland and Canada. The process runs in several steps at different authorities and courts, and each step can be appealed.

   LKAB, quoted by SVT

2. The inquiry into a coordinated process

   In 2024 the Minerals Inquiry proposed that permitting be coordinated, with a new authority for environmental assessment and better consultation with the Sami villages and municipalities. The industry association Svemin supported the main proposals in its consultation response.

   SOU 2024:98; Svemin, consultation response June 2025

SGU, Statistics of the Swedish Mining Industry 2025, tables 19, 23 and 24, with data from the Mining Inspectorate. Exploration permits under the Minerals Act chapter 1 section 1. Kallak K no 1 was referred to the government for decision in 2015 and 2017.

Sweden has no special mining tax. The mining companies pay ordinary corporate tax, and holders of an exploitation concession also pay a mineral fee of two per mille of the value of the ore mined. Three quarters go to the landowners within the concession area and one quarter to the state, which uses it for research and development on sustainable mining. Iron ore that LKAB mines on state land thus gives part of the fee to the state twice.

SGU, Statistics of the Swedish Mining Industry 2025, table 25, million kronor. The countries have different corporate taxes, so the fee alone does not say how much a mining company pays in total.

Almost all mines and most exploration permits in Norrbotten and Västerbotten lie within the reindeer herding area, where the Sami villages have the right to let their reindeer graze. A mine takes up land, and the roads, railways and power lines to it can cut off migration routes between grazing areas. Both reindeer herding and mineral deposits can be of national interest, and the authority must then weigh them against each other.

1. Gállok, or Kallak, near Jokkmokk

   Jokkmokk Iron Mines, a subsidiary of Beowulf Mining, applied in 2013 for an exploitation concession for an iron ore deposit 40 kilometres west of Jokkmokk. The government granted the concession on 22 March 2022 for an area of 103 hectares within the grazing lands of the Sami villages Jåhkågasska tjiellde and Sirges. The government judged that reindeer herding and the mine cannot coexist in the area and gave the mine precedence, with conditions to limit the damage.

   Government decision 22 March 2022

2. The UN and Unesco

   Two UN special rapporteurs, on the rights of indigenous peoples and on the environment and human rights, urged the government in February 2022 not to grant the concession, citing the Sami's right to free, prior and informed consent. Unesco judged that the mine could affect the Laponia World Heritage Site, 34 kilometres away, to a large or very large extent.

   OHCHR, 10 February 2022; Unesco

3. Supreme Administrative Court

   The Sami villages sought judicial review of the government's decision. In June 2024 the Supreme Administrative Court found that the decision did not breach any legal rule, and the concession stands. The Sami Parliament has demanded that the decision be withdrawn. The mine still needs an environmental permit.

   HFD 2024 not. 36, case 3893-22, 25 June 2024

The Sami Parliament shows the extent of the Sami villages and the reindeer herding area. The Minerals Inquiry (SOU 2024:98) proposed clearer consultation with the Sami villages early in the process.