At the edge of the forest, near the border with the neighbor’s land, a low-lying mountain rises. A large rock cave slopes down to a water-filled mine shaft.
– They opened mining holes a bit here and were before and tested their luck. The animals like to come here to drink, says Annika Karlsson, 52, and points down to the hollow.
She lives on Multna farm to which the land belongs, a few steps from the village Rönneshytta. 1.5 kilometers south of the forest begins the Vena mining field, where copper and cobalt were mined 1760-1882. A blue dye was extracted from the cobalt for porcelain painting, but in the end it was no longer profitable.
There are traces left that nature has not forgotten. About 300 mining holes and warp piles with sorted stone. Memories of people who lived and worked here during an industrial era. Will it be revived?
The message that a Canadian companies want to look for cobalt around Vena mining field did not land in good soil with Annika Karlsson’s relatives and other landowners. But the Bergsstaten authority has the opportunity to grant exploration permits anyway if it is assumed that there are deposits.
That was also what happened in December 2020 when Viad Royalties got the right to look in the area. Their three-year exploration permit covers an area where Multna farm is included.
At home at the kitchen table, Annika Karlsson is now banging her fist on the table. Multna farm has been inherited for five generations in her family and she helps to take care of it. A farmer’s family, no one has been involved in mining, Annika emphasizes and pours a cup of strong coffee.
– It’s so calm and nice here. One thinks of how the ancestors and myself struggled to keep open pastures with cows for biodiversity. A mine would destroy the surroundings!
To clean up a piece of Vena field on old mining poisons have cost million and the lake next door is contaminated.
– More research is needed on how to take care of the environment after a mine, before they start shouting that they love mines. We can not poison the surroundings here again! Annika says firmly and sips her coffee.
Her hope is that very few exploration permits will actually lead to a mine. It is a process in many stages of test drilling, environmental impact assessments and paperwork, which can take 10-15 years.
– In addition, I think that it is enough with the mine that already exists here in the area, Zinkgruvan Mining. We must become more self-sufficient, then we can not have mines where we have agricultural land. It goes without saying!
Cobalt has been found here before in Sweden
Source: SGU, Bergsstaten Footnote: In the authority SGU’s mineral resource database, there are 283 deposits where cobalt has been described. The map shows cobalt deposits in notable amounts.
At the same time, demand is on the rise on cobalt to cope with our technology consumption – and today’s climate change from fossil fuels. Without the battery metal, electric cars will not work. Not mobile phones and computers either.
But the transition to cleaner energy can be a dirty business. Most of today’s cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with reports of child labor and other misconduct, and sent to Chinese smelters.
This has led to increased exploration in the EU. Finland is already mining the metal and Sweden can also sit on large deposits in Europe, he says geological authorities pointing out that increased recycling not enough.
The last time cobalt was mined in Sweden was 1914 and a hundred years later, interest is back again, especially among foreign exploration companies that are attracted by low fees.
If there will be investigations on the Vena field in particular remains to be seen, says Johannes Holzäpfel from Viad Royalties. The business idea is to obtain an exploration permit, sell the permit to a business partner who wants to take over the project and in return receive royalties from a possible future mine.
– We have not yet found someone who wants to move on with Vena. I do not know why. I like the project, because historically the concentration of cobalt has been very high compared to other areas. But financing wells is a patient, costly task.
Does the attitude of landowners matter?
– Absolutely, it is difficult to get through a project if the resistance is great, even if there is always someone who is against. Should it become relevant with test drilling, we will carefully explain the project to landowners and residents and we follow the environmental rules that exist. It is very important that people understand the need for mines for our society to develop. Life has become more comfortable in 50 years and in 20 years, mobile phones have become better. Then mines are needed. Should we continue with electric cars and climate change? Then we need mines. Otherwise we can not live as we do today.
At Multna farm hope Annika Karlsson that the county administrative board and the municipality of Askersund in the future will say no if Viad Royalties goes ahead. In order for the company to be allowed to do test drilling, it is necessary a work plan submitted as landowners have the opportunity to protest.
The municipality and the county administrative board have so far said yes to exploration permits as long as disturbances to the environment are minimized.
We can not just open new mines to satisfy our material needs, says Annika.
– We must also be able to think of other things. We have biogas, we mix things in the fuel and the machines must become more fuel efficient and emit less. I do not drive the tractor unnecessarily and do not throw things away if they work. It’s too much wear and tear today. People change phones every two years, it feels like.
But if many landowners say no. If no one wants a mine and we need mines, what do you do then?
– Yes, what do you do then? In the end, there will probably be more mines in Sweden, but preferably no foreign owners should come here and do it. It feels better with Swedish owners, these are our mines.
– Here we invest in solar cells in a barn and my nephew has wind power on his land. Should there be a mine, the landowner should have something to say about and perhaps be able to get a share of the profit, but today the land would only be forcibly redeemed for a sum (estimated market value with a 25 percent mark-up, reds. anm). It does not work. It does not help to stand and wave a few banknotes when it is difficult to find new equal land that our ancestors worked for.
Facts. Granted exploration permits for cobalt per year
2010: 1
2011: 0
2012: 8
2013: 3
2014: 1
2015: 2
2016: 10
2017: 48
2018: 23
2019: 15
2020: 28
2021: 13
2022: 14 to 31 May
Source: Bergsstaten
Footnote: A company’s exploration permit often applies to several metals. It gives the exclusive right to search for deposits, but to start with ground investigations, more paperwork is required. Few eventually lead to an application for processing.
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Facts. Cobalt and Vena mining fields
Cobalt associations has been used for blue staining of glass since ancient times, but the element cobalt was not discovered until 1735 by the Swedish chemist Georg
Brandt. Mining in Sweden began in the 18th century to extract the blue color but stopped mining in 1914.
Today there is cobalt in, among other things, batteries for mobile phones, computers and electric cars. The Democratic Republic of Congo accounts for about 60 percent of production. 18 countries account for the rest, such as China, Canada, Australia and Zambia. In the EU, mining takes place in Finland and New Caledonia (France).
At Vena mining field – east of the lake Åmmelången in Sydnärke – iron began to be produced a thousand years ago. 1760-1882 copper ore and cobalt were mined. A report from the authority SGU tells of high cobalt contents and that “the mineralization of copper-cobalt can possibly continue to a depth of several hundred meters” according to 3D models. To the south is Zinkgruvan Mining, a subsidiary of Lundin Mining.
On May 31, it was there 83 valid exploration permits to look for cobalt in Sweden, according to figures from Bergsstaten.
Source: SGU, County Administrative Board of Örebro County
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