I helgen kom nyheten att länsrådet Johan Antti inte får förlängt forordnande av regeringen. Det här kommer samtidigt som regeringen flaggar för att man vill satsa på gruvnäringen – och just Antti har ofta stått i skottgluggen när gruvbolag inte beviljats tillstånd eller blivit anmälda för misstänkta miljöbrott.

- What lies behind a county council having to leave, I do not know in the individual case, but over time I have seen that the mining industry put quite a lot of pressure on authorities to act in line to get a permit for new mines, says Arne Müller.

He continues:

- In that press, it has also been included that direct officials have been directly criticized.

Which I find quite remarkable.

No major mining nation globally

Arne Müller is a journalist and author with the mining industry as one of his main subjects.

He states that there is a bed for conflict when the pace for decisions is increased, but at the same time he is not surprised because it is now election year.

He wants to put Sweden in a global perspective now that the increasing search for metals has become so clear.

- Sure, on a European scale, Sweden is a large mining nation, but hardly globally, he says, and believes that fluctuating metal prices can be a matter of fate for Sami villages that are affected.

The government wants to make a decision

At present, he sees that there are about ten mining projects in the Sápmi area that may be underway.

This is in areas where, among other things, the reindeer husbandry industry has already been left behind in favor of, among other things, large-scale forestry, wind turbines and other mines.

This means that the mines will continue to face strong protests, just as we have seen in Kallak in recent years.

- If you look at it from the Government's assessment, it seems quite clear that you want to come to a decision in some of these cases.

They want to send the signal that the new Minister of Trade and Industry sent when he took office by saying that the Social Democrats love mines.

Listen to the author and journalist Arne Müller in the clip above.