Reindeer Blog

So said, the Minister for Industry of Norway (Labour Party) while announcing a big increase in funding for mining exploration in the country in a story that appeared in Adressa.no The Norwegian Geological Survey (NGU) believes there is a vast wealth of minerals and ore under the soil just waiting to be exploiting – only [...]

The Canadian mining company Blackstone ventures has managed to buy the rights to start drilling in the Vindelfjällen nature reserve in the north of Sweden. The company is planning to drill right by one of the most ancient Sámi summer villages still inhabited every summer by the reindeer herders and reindeer  of Grans Sameby, the [...]

(Map shows the mining claims in Kvalsund, an area important to migratory reindeer husbandry in Northern Norway, source: NGU) According to an article on TV2, one of the largest networks in Norway, Finnmark is sitting on a potential ‘treasure trove’ of over 1 billion NOK of valuable minerals and including cooper, gold, iron ore and [...]

A multi stakeholder seminar was held in the Kautokeino, Norway yesterday which focussed on the issue of mining in Finnmark, an issue of some controversy in the region since the passing of the Finnmark Act which devolved desicion making powers over multiple resource issues to the region of Finnmark. The seminar was attended by the [...]

(Press Release, Saami Council) The Saami people say a mining project in Northeastern Sweden, proposed by a Canadian company, threatens their traditional way of life and violates their basic human rights, as recognized by the United Nations. On 31 August 2009, Blackstone Ventures Inc., a Vancouver-based mining company, announced plans to begin test-drilling for minerals [...]

Även om beskedet att det kanadensiska bolaget, Northland Resources fått tillstånd att bryta järnmalm i Pajala, så finns oron hos Muonio sameby kring vilka konsekvenser det får för renskötseln. / The Canadian mining company, Northland Resources has received permission to mine iron ore in Pajala, and as a result, there are concerns among Muonio Sameby [...]

Gold, copper and platinum fever continue to pass over Finnmark. Test cores in Kvalsund had chief geologist Kjell Nilsen enthusing This is Norway’s largest copper find…We’re talking about billions. With today’s prices, we have found values of between eight and ten billion kroner (1.25 bn Euros) Other materials in a 6 kilometre ridge include platinum, [...]

(Map showing extent of one claim in Kvalsund – Wega Mining) At a public meeting in Kvalsund, northern Norway, a full frontal attack on reindeer husbandry was launched by one of the parliamentary representatives for Finnmark, Olav Gunnar Ballo. The meeting had been called to discuss the issue of mining in the region where the international mining company [...]

Two Sami villages in northern Sweden have been denied compensation from the state-owned mining company LKAB for the time village representatives spent on planning for the relocation of Kiruna. The reindeer herding villages of Gaban and Leavas first turned to the government for money to make up for time spent tending to the relocation of [...]

JOINT PRESS RELEASE by the Saami Council and the National Swedish Saami Association 2008-02-21   Saami areas in Sweden are currently experiencing an explosion in mining and windpower development. There has been an increase in both Scandinavian and foreign companies in prospecting, mining and windpower. Ironically, while many of these companies market themselves to investors [...]