I submitted the following question for the last webinar: ‘What other permits have already been initiated/obtained to initiate the expansion of production? Is it still realistic to reach production by 2030?’
Mark touched on this on the 51 minute mark:
Alex put the question to Mark in the webinar as follows:
Mark's answer:
In fact, I would also have liked to know what further permits are needed that are still being examined by the authorities or, if necessary, have not yet been applied for - but I obviously omitted to ask for them explicitly.
I would assume that Nunasvaara South (in November/December) and Niska (at the same time or in the following round) will be defined as strategic projects and will benefit from preferential treatment, which will hopefully significantly shorten the permit process. However, based on the experience of recent years, I am sure that there will still be unexpected delays and hiccups in the future. The bureaucratic requirements are becoming more complex and extensive from year to year, and even if states double the size of their bureaucracies and partially automate processes using AI, it will be difficult to keep pace.
Mark had mentioned that so far there have only been considerations and studies that an underground mine COULD be established and thus accelerate the extraction of graphite and reduce the impact on the (above-ground) environment - that sounded like purely theoretical considerations, so I can't imagine that (all) the necessary permits have already been applied for.
The following target was defined in the objectives for the CRMA:
Let us assume that it takes 12-18 months for the EU directive to be transposed into national law and for Talga to submit all the necessary permits for an underground mine, and the officials then utilise the full 27 months, then we will already be in spring 2028. After that, we can only start building the mine (I don't have a clue how long this may take), and at the same time we also have to build new anode factories or expand the existing ones, finalise the financing, etc. - so we're already heading towards 2030. And then there are the occasional political or economic hotspots on a global scale that can become a stumbling block. So I am prepared that we need to have a lot of stamina! But of course there is also a bull case with much faster progress, that looks much more pleasing. Mark regularly tends to outline the more optimistic scenarios in the webinars, so no need to mention those aspects in detail I guess.