LKAB mine threatens Gabna Sami community’s last reindeer route

LKAB’s planned mine in Kiruna could give Europe access to rare earth metals needed for electrification and the climate transition, but the deposit lies beneath the last narrow migration route used by the Gabna Sami reindeer-herding community, SVT reports.

“It will be the end of reindeer herding as we know it if the mine is built,” Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen, chairman of the Gabna community, told SVT’s programme “Reindeer in the way”.

Several mining projects are planned on Sami land in northern Sweden to extract minerals for the climate transition. Many have faced strong criticism from Sami communities, and the conflict in Kiruna is particularly difficult.

“How much are we expected to sacrifice for Sweden’s and Europe’s prosperity?” said Karin Kvarfordt Niia of the Gabna community.

The Per Geijer deposit in Kiruna is rich in rare earth metals used in products including electric cars, wind turbines and mobile phones. The EU has classified it as strategically important because it could make Europe more self-sufficient and less dependent on China.

“You cannot build an electric car without permanent magnets. These metals are needed for that. This is about the climate, the defence industry and security policy,” said Niklas Johansson, LKAB’s director of external relations.

Because Per Geijer lies beneath land that Sami people have the right to use as an Indigenous people, LKAB must consult the community. However, the talks have broken down.

The deposit lies beneath a route just 50 metres wide that remains of land formerly 13 kilometres wide, where thousands of reindeer have migrated for hundreds of years. LKAB’s extraction method would leave unusually large scars in the ground, and the community risks being cut in two if a mine is opened.

“It is an experiment to cut off an entire Sami community. It has never been done in Sweden before. If they can do this here, it can happen in more places,” Kuhmunen said.

Johansson said society could not develop without some people giving way.

“Anyone who has a mobile phone cannot oppose mines. If we are to develop our societies, someone often has to step back. Not everyone can get exactly what they want, and neither can we,” he said.

Six of Sweden’s eight parliamentary parties told SVT’s election compass that they want to make it easier to open mines on Sami land. Most cited the climate benefits of the metals. The Green Party and the Left Party were the most critical, while the Moderate Party, and especially the Christian Democrats and Sweden Democrats, have openly called for reducing the influence of reindeer herding.

Kuhmunen does not see new mines as the solution to the climate crisis.

“If the climate transition takes place at our expense, it cannot be called sustainable. The solution is restraint rather than expansion,” he said.