In the 1990s, Pahtohavare was a small satellite mine for Viscaria, both operated by Finnish Outukumpu.
Both mines were closed in 1997 when the low copper price made mining unprofitable.
Since then, the copper price has risen to unprecedented heights and now the company Copperstone has far-reaching plans to reopen Viscaria.
There are also plans for Pahto owners.
Australian company
It is Australian Critical metals that owns the exploration permit and the Swedish Lovisa mine based in Bergslagen has bought into the project and will continue to run it.
The company wants to mine copper oxide which is to be leached with sulfuric acid and then processed into pure copper by electrolysis.
However, the County Administrative Board has asked questions about what happens to the waste, and in order to be able to answer that, the company must conduct more extensive investigations.
- We have to test break a number of tons.
So far, we have only produced drill cores, says Göran Nordenhök at the Lovisa mine.
Sameby critical
Laeva's Sami village, which is also affected by Viscaria, has commented critically on the Pahtohavare project.
- This will mean that the Sami village will be cut off in the area around the city of Kiruna.
We will not be able to pass, says Leava's chairman Niila Inga to Sameradion.
Göran Nordenhök answers:
- It is a very small project with little environmental impact and there is very little land that we use.
It is about less than one per mille of their land.