TLG Discussion 2022

[cosors]

"Kiruna refuses new mine – wants money from the state: "We get nothing in return"​

Published 12-04-2024, 05:00

There are far-reaching plans for a new graphite mine in Vittangi in Kiruna municipality. But now the municipality says stop – until the state pays its way.
"We want compensation, so that we get something back," says Jonas Stålnacke, miner and Social Democratic politician.

A year ago, the Land and Environment Court granted the Australian company Talga permission to mine 120,000 tonnes of graphite per year outside Vittangi in Kiruna municipality.

Since then, the ball has partly been in the municipality's court – which is now putting a spanner in the works of the mining plans. This week, the political majority announced that it is ending work on the zoning plan for the graphite mine, and that it will not approve any new applications from the mining company Talga.

At least not until the state pays its way.

"What is happening in northern Sweden is a continuation of an outdated, colonial approach from the Swedish state," write the Social Democrats, the Left Party, the Sami List and the Feminist Initiative in a joint statement.

Vill ha utvinningsskatt ​

Jonas Stålnacke is the Social Democrats' group leader in Kiruna municipality, and a miner himself.

"We want some kind of compensation, an extraction tax so that the municipality gets something back. This applies not only to Kiruna, it applies to other municipalities as well. As it is today, we just give. We don't get anything in return," he says.

Won't the mine generate new jobs – and thus benefit the municipality?

"This graphite mine will only be operated during the snow-free period. It's all about seasonal employees, "fly-in fly-out". We already have enough of those. They do not generate any major tax revenue for the municipality," says Jonas Stålnacke.

Green transition is good – but not for free ​

Proponents of the graphite mine, including the mines' industry association Svemin, and not least Talga themselves, believe that the proposed mine is central to the green transition. Talga believes that Europe's self-sufficiency in graphite, a critical raw material in lithium-ion batteries, depends on the mine.

Jonas Stålnacke agrees that the green transition is important.

"But we want something in return. We also have an obligation to protect our waters, rivers and forests for future generations," he says.

Kiruna's municipal commissioner Mats Taaveniku, also a Social Democrat, has previously said that Kiruna cannot afford to be at the forefront of the green transition. The municipality has debts of SEK 2.7 billion.

"A weapon between the municipality and the state"​

Cen Rolfsson, press officer at Talga, says that he is disappointed with how Kiruna Municipality has handled the mining plans.

"Of course it's sad. At the same time, this confirms the picture we have had, we see how the municipality has delayed the process for a long time, he says and adds:

"It's a shame that we're being used as a weapon between the municipality and the state.

We see ourselves as part of Vittangi's future.
Cen Rolfsson, Talgas press chief.

In March, Talga submitted a request to the government for a so-called planning injunction. In practice, this means that they want the government to force the municipality to adopt the zoning plan for the mine in Vittangi.

"The democratic process will take its course and we hope that this will go through. We have high hopes," says Cen Rolfsson


The municipality believes that the mine will hardly generate any revenue at all. Do you have any understanding of the municipality?

"I understand that the municipality is under pressure. An urban transformation and a green transition are taking place. That said, we see ourselves as an important player in society. Our idea is to actively contribute to increased welfare in the municipality. We see ourselves as part of Vittangi's future," says Cen Rolfsson."

Kiruna vägrar ny gruva – vill ha pengar från staten: ”Vi får inget tillbaka”

En ny grafitgruva planeras i Vittangi, Kiruna. Men kommunens säger stopp tills staten betalar för sig. Talga uttrycker besvikelse över kommunens agerande.

da.se

Swedish politics...
I'd better keep quiet.

 

[Diogenese]

"Kiruna refuses new mine – wants money from the state: "We get nothing in return"​

Published 12-04-2024, 05:00

There are far-reaching plans for a new graphite mine in Vittangi in Kiruna municipality. But now the municipality says stop – until the state pays its way.
"We want compensation, so that we get something back," says Jonas Stålnacke, miner and Social Democratic politician.

A year ago, the Land and Environment Court granted the Australian company Talga permission to mine 120,000 tonnes of graphite per year outside Vittangi in Kiruna municipality.

Since then, the ball has partly been in the municipality's court – which is now putting a spanner in the works of the mining plans. This week, the political majority announced that it is ending work on the zoning plan for the graphite mine, and that it will not approve any new applications from the mining company Talga.

At least not until the state pays its way.

"What is happening in northern Sweden is a continuation of an outdated, colonial approach from the Swedish state," write the Social Democrats, the Left Party, the Sami List and the Feminist Initiative in a joint statement.

Vill ha utvinningsskatt ​

Jonas Stålnacke is the Social Democrats' group leader in Kiruna municipality, and a miner himself.

"We want some kind of compensation, an extraction tax so that the municipality gets something back. This applies not only to Kiruna, it applies to other municipalities as well. As it is today, we just give. We don't get anything in return," he says.

Won't the mine generate new jobs – and thus benefit the municipality?

"This graphite mine will only be operated during the snow-free period. It's all about seasonal employees, "fly-in fly-out". We already have enough of those. They do not generate any major tax revenue for the municipality," says Jonas Stålnacke.

Green transition is good – but not for free ​

Proponents of the graphite mine, including the mines' industry association Svemin, and not least Talga themselves, believe that the proposed mine is central to the green transition. Talga believes that Europe's self-sufficiency in graphite, a critical raw material in lithium-ion batteries, depends on the mine.

Jonas Stålnacke agrees that the green transition is important.

"But we want something in return. We also have an obligation to protect our waters, rivers and forests for future generations," he says.

Kiruna's municipal commissioner Mats Taaveniku, also a Social Democrat, has previously said that Kiruna cannot afford to be at the forefront of the green transition. The municipality has debts of SEK 2.7 billion.

"A weapon between the municipality and the state"​

Cen Rolfsson, press officer at Talga, says that he is disappointed with how Kiruna Municipality has handled the mining plans.

"Of course it's sad. At the same time, this confirms the picture we have had, we see how the municipality has delayed the process for a long time, he says and adds:

"It's a shame that we're being used as a weapon between the municipality and the state.



In March, Talga submitted a request to the government for a so-called planning injunction. In practice, this means that they want the government to force the municipality to adopt the zoning plan for the mine in Vittangi.

"The democratic process will take its course and we hope that this will go through. We have high hopes," says Cen Rolfsson


The municipality believes that the mine will hardly generate any revenue at all. Do you have any understanding of the municipality?

"I understand that the municipality is under pressure. An urban transformation and a green transition are taking place. That said, we see ourselves as an important player in society. Our idea is to actively contribute to increased welfare in the municipality. We see ourselves as part of Vittangi's future," says Cen Rolfsson."

Kiruna vägrar ny gruva – vill ha pengar från staten: ”Vi får inget tillbaka”

En ny grafitgruva planeras i Vittangi, Kiruna. Men kommunens säger stopp tills staten betalar för sig. Talga uttrycker besvikelse över kommunens agerande.

da.se

Swedish politics...
I'd better keep quiet.

It's funny how conceding winter mining so the reindeer have somewhere for their lichen-liking licking has become a rod to beat us with.

 

[cosors]

It's funny how conceding winter mining so the reindeer have somewhere to their lichen-liking (licking?) has become a rod to beat us with.

Exactly my thought. It's outrageous of this politician

 

[WheresTheMonkey]

Good grief ...............SEK 2.7 billion in debt = AUD $385,223,850

 

[Semmel]

It might be that the swedish tax revenue system for mining is not fair to the municapilities. But it's also not fair to use Talga as a bargain chip. It's also false that it's just seasonal. Yes, the mine operation, i.e. blasting and rubble transportation is only in the summer. But the concentrator and other jobs on the mining site will be done during the winter. No idea how many the mine actually employ in the end, but let's say that it's about half of the employees that are seasonal.

And as Dio said, that they use THAT argument of all things to use as a leaver is completely mad. It's like "Do or don't", both is wrong.

This, once again, confirms my very low opinion of the swedish politics class.

 

[cosors]

​

Kiruna's municipal commissioner Mats Taaveniku, also a Social Democrat, has previously said that Kiruna cannot afford to be at the forefront of the green transition. The municipality has debts of SEK 2.7 billion.

Good grief ...............SEK 2.7 billion in debt = AUD $385,223,850

This means a provisional final cost for the bathhouse of SEK 1.25 billion.

https://nsd.se/nyheter/kiruna/artikel/161-nya-miljoner-till-badhuset-i-kiruna-kanns-fruktansvart/r9wq90mj

Kiruna cannot afford to be at the forefront of the green transition.
​

_____
"There has been poor financial control and poor internal management of the organisation for a long time," he says.

TLG Discussion 2022

Why are they not demanding more money from the reindeer herders that are currently arguing they should have exclusive use of the land for their own businesses? The whole thing is argumentatively twisted anyway. Because they don't get enough money from the government, they are against new...

thestockexchange.com.au

 

[teilenswert]

In the absence of a market announcement from MT and team on how progress with all things outside of the Appeals are going we should at least get notice next week of the Quarterly Webinar which should be held in early May.

Looking forward to a substantial update then as 3 months has gone since the last webinar at which we were told multiple things were on the cusp of being announced. Surely not everything has to wait for the appeals?

I would disagree with you. If there is no significant positive news about either the mine or the anode factory, then Mark will have little choice but to repeat the storyline that has been communicated for many years:

1. Talga's mine is unique due to its high graphite content and composition
2. It makes both economic and environmental sense for the EU
3. The Critical Minerals Act increases the pressure on stakeholders to make progress (probably this will be to focus of the next webinar as there should be significant updates)
4. Financing, offtake agreements, grants, follow-up projects (Talnode-SI) are largely arranged
5. Due to points 1-4, it is essential that the permits will be granted sooner or later

It can be assumed that there will be clarity regarding the anode factory sooner than with regard to the approval of mining activities. That is why I am particularly interested in two points at the moment:

• If the Supreme Court makes a positive decision and the permit for the anode factory is granted, can we actually finally get started, or do we have to wait until there is absolute clarity regarding mine construction as well (not sure if the EIB will finance the factory if we can only produce high-quality anode material with our very own graphite and if offtake-agreements also refer to this specific combination)?
• How many months will it take before we are in full production? Is 2026 still realistic or will all the delays lead to a later start?

What I don't want to think/worry about:

• What happens if we permanently don't get approval for mine construction (or this process drags on for years)?
• How long will future permit processes take if we intend to increase our production volume by a factor of 5-20?

By the way, last year the quarterly webinar in May took place at the very end of the month.

 

[WheresTheMonkey]

This, once again, confirms my very low opinion of the swedish politics class.

You should add the Judicial class to that opinion as well.

I am more and more of a believer in the conspiracy theory that this appeals process being held back deliberately until the CRMA comes into play. It seems obvious that instead of a judicial decision being taken they are awaiting on a political decision to bail them out.

What was it 8 December when the properly signed appeals file was finally moved on to a judge ?

 

[cosors]

This planning is regulated by law and can be found in Chapters 3 and 4 of the Environmental Code, which are usually referred to as "budgetary provisions".

"Environmental Code (1998:808)​

Chapter 3 Basic rules for the management of land and water areas​

...
§ Section 13 The Government may decide in individual cases that one or more municipalities must notify the Government or another authority of how the municipality or municipalities intend in their planning under the Planning and Building Act (2010:900) to satisfy an interest in the management of land and water under this Chapter and Chapter 4. Act (2017:955)."

https://www.riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-och-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/miljobalk-1998808_sfs-1998-808/

I am curious and all ears dear Kiruna Municipality.
Give me more money for our bathhouse won't work I reckon.

____
The fact that we have not yet heard anything from EN in this bad local politics comedy makes me rather confident. Why get involved in something that has no relevance except for the media and voters.

 

[Semmel]

You should add the Judicial class to that opinion as well.

I am more and more of a believer in the conspiracy theory that this appeals process being held back deliberately until the CRMA comes into play. It seems obvious that instead of a judicial decision being taken they are awaiting on a political decision to bail them out.

What was it 8 December when the properly signed appeals file was finally moved on to a judge ?

So far, I have not seen any stupidity by the courts. To the contrary. All decisions and especially the main hearing were extremely reasonable and well done. The only gripe is, that it takes much, much longer than it should. I just dont know why holding off the mine development until appeals are through is actually a free choice by the judge or if that is a rule they have to follow. If it was a choice, then it is quite stupid and caused a lot of damage to talga and delayed the process.

 

[cosors]

• If the Supreme Court makes a positive decision and the permit for the anode factory is granted, can we actually finally get started, or do we have to wait until there is absolute clarity regarding mine construction as well (not sure if the EIB will finance the factory if we can only produce high-quality anode material with our very own graphite and if offtake-agreements also refer to this specific combination)?

As far as I know the anode factory in Lulea is fully authorised and no further decisions are required and this has 'nothing' to do with the SC's decision.
There have been some irritations and delays and back and forth because of the dispute between the two construction companies as to which of the two will ultimately be awarded the contract for the whole industry park not Talga's plant. This decision has now also been made. According to the responsible project manager, however, this had no influence on Talga's construction activities. So nothing stands in the way.
The only thing is that it has to be financed and the financing is presumably linked to the SC's decision. If Talga had enough funds the factory could be built immediately. That's how I understand it.

 

[brewm0re]

"Kiruna refuses new mine – wants money from the state: "We get nothing in return"​

Published 12-04-2024, 05:00

There are far-reaching plans for a new graphite mine in Vittangi in Kiruna municipality. But now the municipality says stop – until the state pays its way.
"We want compensation, so that we get something back," says Jonas Stålnacke, miner and Social Democratic politician.

A year ago, the Land and Environment Court granted the Australian company Talga permission to mine 120,000 tonnes of graphite per year outside Vittangi in Kiruna municipality.

Since then, the ball has partly been in the municipality's court – which is now putting a spanner in the works of the mining plans. This week, the political majority announced that it is ending work on the zoning plan for the graphite mine, and that it will not approve any new applications from the mining company Talga.

At least not until the state pays its way.

"What is happening in northern Sweden is a continuation of an outdated, colonial approach from the Swedish state," write the Social Democrats, the Left Party, the Sami List and the Feminist Initiative in a joint statement.

Vill ha utvinningsskatt ​

Jonas Stålnacke is the Social Democrats' group leader in Kiruna municipality, and a miner himself.

"We want some kind of compensation, an extraction tax so that the municipality gets something back. This applies not only to Kiruna, it applies to other municipalities as well. As it is today, we just give. We don't get anything in return," he says.

Won't the mine generate new jobs – and thus benefit the municipality?

"This graphite mine will only be operated during the snow-free period. It's all about seasonal employees, "fly-in fly-out". We already have enough of those. They do not generate any major tax revenue for the municipality," says Jonas Stålnacke.

Green transition is good – but not for free ​

Proponents of the graphite mine, including the mines' industry association Svemin, and not least Talga themselves, believe that the proposed mine is central to the green transition. Talga believes that Europe's self-sufficiency in graphite, a critical raw material in lithium-ion batteries, depends on the mine.

Jonas Stålnacke agrees that the green transition is important.

"But we want something in return. We also have an obligation to protect our waters, rivers and forests for future generations," he says.

Kiruna's municipal commissioner Mats Taaveniku, also a Social Democrat, has previously said that Kiruna cannot afford to be at the forefront of the green transition. The municipality has debts of SEK 2.7 billion.

"A weapon between the municipality and the state"​

Cen Rolfsson, press officer at Talga, says that he is disappointed with how Kiruna Municipality has handled the mining plans.

"Of course it's sad. At the same time, this confirms the picture we have had, we see how the municipality has delayed the process for a long time, he says and adds:

"It's a shame that we're being used as a weapon between the municipality and the state.



In March, Talga submitted a request to the government for a so-called planning injunction. In practice, this means that they want the government to force the municipality to adopt the zoning plan for the mine in Vittangi.

"The democratic process will take its course and we hope that this will go through. We have high hopes," says Cen Rolfsson


The municipality believes that the mine will hardly generate any revenue at all. Do you have any understanding of the municipality?

"I understand that the municipality is under pressure. An urban transformation and a green transition are taking place. That said, we see ourselves as an important player in society. Our idea is to actively contribute to increased welfare in the municipality. We see ourselves as part of Vittangi's future," says Cen Rolfsson."

Kiruna vägrar ny gruva – vill ha pengar från staten: ”Vi får inget tillbaka”

En ny grafitgruva planeras i Vittangi, Kiruna. Men kommunens säger stopp tills staten betalar för sig. Talga uttrycker besvikelse över kommunens agerande.

da.se

Swedish politics...
I'd better keep quiet.

F*** keeping quiet. You have every right to voice your opinions. IMO most pollies are and wherever you look around the world, so much growth and prosperity is taken away from economies/citizens/companies for self interest. Look at the balance sheets of municipalities/councils/countries, Kiruna self evidenced too. Who is running up these bills and now the audacity to want more? If you want more, let TLG mine more and you’ll get more royalties to run a muck on your government salaries. What a gem you’ve continued to deliver Cosors; people aren’t shy to voice their voices on TSE which is great. There’s so much politics involved here with Vittangi in the background it appears, and as Semmel said below, the judicial process has been handled better than the pollies (albeit not allowing us to mine whilst appeals play out)…And to not forget his funny GIF of the sloth slowly stamping the approval, which has felt an eternity!

 

[teilenswert]

As far as I know the anode factory in Lulea is fully authorised and no further decisions are required and this has 'nothing' to do with the SC's decision.
There have been some irritations and delays and back and forth because of the dispute between the two construction companies as to which of the two will ultimately be awarded the contract for the whole industry park not Talga's plant. This decision has now also been made. According to the responsible project manager, however, this had no influence on Talga's construction activities. So nothing stands in the way.
The only thing is that it has to be financed and the financing is presumably linked to the SC's decision. If Talga had enough funds the factory could be built immediately. That's how I understand it.

Thank you for the justified correction of my statement, I obviously misrepresented it. Nevertheless, the fact that not much seems to have happened at the anode factory apart from early ground works leads to the assumption that we need to do our homework in Kiruna before we can push ahead with our project in Lulea. There was an option agreed on between Talga and NYAB, intended to be exercised no later than Q2 2024, to recommence in European spring to complete detailed infrastructure and groundworks. If we are not able to use the European summer time for the construction of the plant, we will again lose valuable time.

 

[cosors]

So far, I have not seen any stupidity by the courts. To the contrary. All decisions and especially the main hearing were extremely reasonable and well done. The only gripe is, that it takes much, much longer than it should. I just dont know why holding off the mine development until appeals are through is actually a free choice by the judge or if that is a rule they have to follow. If it was a choice, then it is quite stupid and caused a lot of damage to talga and delayed the process.

Don't forget that our case was postponed to a special unit in December.

 

[Semmel]

Don't forget that our case was postponed to a special unit in December.

What does that mean?

 

[Diogenese]

What does that mean?

Their speciality is heel-dragging.

 

[cosors]

What does that mean?

I think nobody knows and only Dio has an idea.)
I could find out absolutely nothing about this unit. I mentioned it because the case has only been with this unit since December.

PERMITS

Talk about playing the system like a fiddle. A dire need for legislative change. Well I suppose they had to put on their snow shoes and trek through blizzards to get to the igloos ...

thestockexchange.com.au

 

[Semmel]

Completion of Vittangi Anode Project FEED Study delivers strong results

https://talgagroup.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/app/uploads/2024/04/15091050/20240415FeedCompleted_ASX.pdf

Battery materials and technology company Talga Group Ltd (“Talga” or “the Company”) (ASX:TLG)
is pleased to announce the completion of the front-end engineering and design (“FEED”) for its
integrated Vittangi Anode Project (“Project”), located in northern Sweden. Highlights include:

• Optimised equipment and process design reduces the number of purification and anode production
lines required at the Refinery, reducing the building footprint and improving energy needs
• Anode production process configured and qualified to customer requirements, facilitating battery
maker and automotive OEM offtake negotiations
• Positive update to capital expenditure to a total of €560m (excluding €39m contingency) amid
inflationary macro environment
• Identified near term initial Refinery capacity expansion opportunity subject to further technical and
commercial work underway

Very good set of updates and the summary snippet doesn't really do it justice. Worth reading the full thing in detail. This snippet has me a bit excited:

Initial Expansion Potential
The FEED study results, and the Company’s engineering consultants, have identified the potential to expand the initial Luleå Anode Refinery capacity. This initial expansion would aim to maximise near term Talnode®-C production or to produce additional Talphite® feedstock for separate Talnode®-Si production.

Also very nice to see they are going for grant money from the EU. I'm a bit surprised to see a number:

Talga is also progressing a range of prospective equity funding options in line with its financing
strategy. This includes potential strategic investors, as well as application for ~€70m in EU grant funding, currently under consideration.

 

[Diogenese]

Very good set of updates and the summary snippet doesn't really do it justice. Worth reading the full thing in detail. This snippet has me a bit excited:

Initial Expansion Potential
The FEED study results, and the Company’s engineering consultants, have identified the potential to expand the initial Luleå Anode Refinery capacity. This initial expansion would aim to maximise near term Talnode®-C production or to produce additional Talphite® feedstock for separate Talnode®-Si production.

Also very nice to see they are going for grant money from the EU. I'm a bit surprised to see a number:

Talga is also progressing a range of prospective equity funding options in line with its financing
strategy. This includes potential strategic investors, as well as application for ~€70m in EU grant funding, currently under consideration.

Yes. the importance of Talnode-Si cannot be overstressed. Just 9% Talnode-Si can improve a battery's capacity by 40%.

This gives the car makers the option of selecting a range of reduced battery size and weight and increased mileage. There is a synergistic effect in that reducing battery weight in itself increases mileage. Batteries can weigh much more than 450 kg (up to 900 to 1400 kg), so a 20% reduction (~ 4.5% Talnode-Si?) would be more than 90 kg, possibly 180 kg or more. That's a couple of solid blokes weight. This would be particularly significant on undulating roads because the downhill regeneration would not recover all the additional energy spent going uphill. But even on the flat, the extra weight adds to rolling friction. I'm sure the carmakers can work out an optimal weight/mileage figure.

 

[Semmel]

All in all, a good update. I don't think the timing of 18 to 24 months is surprising. This was the statement from the start, so how could it have changed significantly? Just because the start is delayed, how could they develop it faster? Summer 26 is a solid assumption for start of production of the mine.

But mind you, the Talnode-C production might start earlier using the stockpile of ore that we have from the trail mine.

The increase in capital needs is also expected. 15% from baseline in 2021 is pretty much perfect given the inflation we experienced the last years.

It's very nice to know that the financing consortium is alive and kicking. I was worried that it might fall apart due to the delay. Good job giving an update.

The reduction on machinery.. I have no opinion on that one. Good that it saves some, but I am indifferent on that one.

Really good update on Talnode-Si. We can read very much from this! As we already speculated before, Talnode-Si production is linked to the mine with the Talphene component. If talga plans to expand the factory output for production of Talnode-Si, that means there doesn't need to be an impact of Talnode-Si on Talnode-C production. Which is very welcome! I would love to see an independent source of graphite for Talnode-Si, just to get rid of the shackles of the mine for it, but well, here we are.

And the best part of this Ann is, that it happened at all. We were so starved for news and developed by Talga, this is a very nice light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully it's not such a long period of starvation again after this.