Mining companies | Ahti Hänninen’s heritage forest was protected, now the mining company plans to look for ore there: “We have the right to do so”

Natural Heritage Foundation bought a natural forest from Nellim in Inari last summer to protect. At the same time, the Nordic ore exploration company Arctic Minerals applied for an ore exploration permit in that location.

The Keskimmäinen Kivijärvi forest, located near the village of Nellimi, is exactly the kind of old and natural forest that Finland is committed to protecting in the EU’s biodiversity strategy, says the Northern Finland Conservation Manager of the Natural Heritage Foundation Ari-Pekka Auvinen.

“The forest is mostly more than 200 years old and naturally born. Some aspens and birch trees grow in the pine forest with a pebble base. In total, there are about 500 hectares of this kind of forest around Kivijärvi.”

The forest was sold to the foundation by a long-time conservationist and reindeer herder Ahti Hänninen.

At the foundation were not aware of ore prospecting company Arctic Minerals’ ore prospecting intentions when making deals.

According to Auvinen, the Natural Heritage Foundation could, based on nature values, buy the entire 500-hectare area if there was money.

The simultaneity of ore exploration and conservation intentions is a coincidence. CEO of Arctic Minerals Risto Pietilän according to the company was not aware of the deals made by the Natural Heritage Foundation or the establishment of the protected area.

“We have the right to apply for an ore prospecting permit. We are open to what the future brings and how the process progresses.”

Lapland At the end of August, ely Center made a decision to establish a nature reserve in the central Kivijärvi in ​​Nellimi, Inari.

The mineral exploration application is processed by the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes), which has not yet issued a decision on the matter.

The Mining and Nature Conservation Act are separate laws, the decisions of which are independent and independent from each other. Both have been updated recently: the revised laws entered into force in June.

The new nature conservation law included a stricter approach to ore exploration in nature conservation areas. Mineral exploration was prohibited in nature reserves established by the state, which in practice means national and nature parks. In other state nature reserves, an ore prospecting permit can be granted with certain restrictions.

The banning of mineral exploration in national and nature parks is supported by the fact that the protection of biodiversity in them is a task defined by law.

The legislative council of the Ministry of the Environment Pasi Kallion According to

Private the situation in nature reserves is more complicated. Their protection is based on voluntariness. Therefore, the area’s conservation regulations are agreed upon with the landowner when the area is established.

When the Natural Heritage Foundation applied to Lapland’s ely center for a decision to establish a nature reserve, it proposed that digging and tillage in the area be prohibited.

Arctic Minerals’ ore prospecting application is about to undergo a consultation phase, during which Tukes will request statements from, for example, Inari municipality and ely center, as well as the Sámi councils, as the Nellimi Kivijärvi area is located in a Sámi area.

Two years ago, the company made an area reservation in the vicinity of Nellimi’s Kivijärvi, which was opposed by, among others, the Sámi councilors and the Ivalo paliskunta operating in the area.

Area reservation is the stage prior to ore exploration, during which the company can apply for an ore exploration permit for the area. The reservation in question lapsed last summer after the application for the prospecting permit was made.

by Arctic Minerals Pietilä says that the locals have the right to oppose ore exploration, but the weight of their point of view can be assessed by Tukes, which acts as the licensing authority.

Tukes requests statements from all parties involved in the consultation phase, based on which it makes its decision.

According to Pietilä, it is not the ore prospecting that causes problems in the area yet, but only the establishment of the mine. In turn, a mining permit issued by Tukes is required to establish a mine.

“In practice, ore exploration rarely leads to the establishment of a mine,” says Pietilä.

Arctic Minerals has pending applications for ore exploration permits in Tervola, Keminmaa, Tornio and Ylitornio, as well as further south in Kiiming and the Pyhännä region. The company has a valid ore prospecting permit near the Sámi area, south of the Porttipahta artificial lake.

I supported chief inspector Ilkka Keskitalo says that mineral prospecting permits have sometimes been granted to private conservation areas on the condition that the soil and bedrock in the area are not disturbed in violation of conservation regulations.

In these cases, ore prospecting is practically done with aerial measurements or geophysical measurements.

According to Keskitalo, the Mining Act separates ore prospecting and mining activities in such a way that ore prospecting is considered research activity. A mining permit, on the other hand, is an exploitation right.

The Mining Act is based on the fact that an ore prospecting permit must not endanger or significantly hinder the practice of reindeer herding, says Keskitalo.

“There is currently no mining activity in the home region of the Sámi people.”

However, there are regional reservations. Most of the mineral exploration companies’ area reservations have been made specifically for Lapland.

Correction October 27, 2023 at 10:28 a.m.: Contrary to what was originally claimed in the article, the ore prospecting permit for the south side of the Porttipahta reservoir is not in the Sámi area but near it.