Plans and Permits
All permits acquired
Nussir ASA is fully permitted for operations. The Zoning plan is finished and covers the areas for mining, processing and deposition. The operating licence has been given by the Directorate of Mining and the tailings permit was awarded by the Norwegian Environmental Agency. In addition Nussir ASA hold all the mining rights necessary for both the Nussir and the Ulveryggen ores.
Operating Licence
The final approval on the operating licence was in 2019. The operating licence is the final decision from the directorate of Mining needed for mining to start. It grants operational capacity for the two ore bodies, Ulveryggen and Nussir and includes a mining plan that is also approved. The licence also includes a closure plan.
Zoning Plan
The Zoning Plan for Nussir was approved in 2014. The total area of the zoning plan totals approximately 63 km2, which includes a land area totalling 25km2 and a sea area of 38km2. These areas includes the area of the old Ulveryggen ore and open pits, the area of the 10 km long Nussir ore body, the processing facility at Øyen and an area in the sea in Repparfjord for the Sea Tailings Placement (STP).
Tailings Permit
Nussir ASA received final approval of their Sea Tailings Placement (STP) solution in 2016. STPs are allowed in Norway and used by several mines where an STP have been found to be the best solution. The Norwegian Environmental Agency performed a study in 2019 where they looked at pros and cons of STPs and found that it was in the best interest of the nation to keep STP as an alternative as it was the Best Available Practice in several instances. For Nussir, the STP solution has been the most investigated and researched tailings solution in Norway ever.
Mining Rights
Nussir has 35 mining rights, 2 larger ones from 2013 covering the existing mine area at Ulveryggen and 33 for the Nussir ore. At Nussir there are 12 original rights from 2006 with 11 more registered in 2015 due to diamond drilling revealing an extensive expansion of the ore towards the deep and the fjord. The mining rights gives Nussir exclusive rights to mine in these areas and the rights will be kept for the life of the mine.
FeFo
FeFo (Finnmarkseiendommen) owns 95% of the land area in Finnmark on behalf of all the inhabitants, both of Norwegian and Sami descendancy. FeFo also owns the lands where the Nussir project is located. The board of FeFo, which consists mostly of persons with Sami background, voted in favour of the Operating Licence.
