Supreme Administrative Court to conduct a review at the Sokli mining concession

The Supreme Administrative Court has decided to conduct a review of the Sokli mining concession located in Savukoski, Northern Finland. In practice, the Court will be reviewing the local conditions for the purpose of assessing the environmental impacts of the project before making a decision on the environmental permit application for Sokli.

The review will be held on 31 August and 1 September 2021, and several parties have been invited to attend the review including, for example, representatives of the Kemin-Sompio reindeer herding cooperative, the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Lapland, the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency, the municipality of Savukoski and Sokli Oy. The review process will not include oral hearings.

The processing of the environmental permit application for Sokli by the Supreme Administrative Court is based on the environmental and water management permit granted to the previous owner of the mining project in 2018, on which the Vaasa Administrative Court issued a decision in 2020. The permit concerns the excavation of 10 million tonnes of phosphorus and iron ore per year, as well as the related waste rock excavation and other mining-related activities.

The rights and responsibilities for the Sokli mining project were transferred from Yara Finland Oy to Sokli Oy, a project company fully owned by Finnish Minerals Group, in December 2020.

The mission of Finnish Minerals Group is to responsibly maximise the value of Finnish minerals. We manage the State’s mining industry shareholdings and strive to develop the Finnish value chain of lithium-ion batteries. In addition, we are engaged in long-term technology development of the mining and battery industry. Through our work, we contribute to Europe moving towards electric transport and a more sustainable future. www.mineralsgroup.fi