Three permits. One concession.
Every mining project requires several permits, the most demanding of which are the exploitation concession, the land designation (markanvisning) and the environmental permit for the final operations. The permits and process flows are described on the website of the Mining Inspectorate of Sweden (Bergsstaten). For Stortjärnhobben, the exploitation concession has been granted. The land designation and the environmental permit for trial mining are under examination, and the timetable is governed by processing, decisions and any appeals. The land designation is being examined by the Land and Environment Court of Appeal following an appeal, and the environmental permit is examined by the County Administrative Board of Västerbotten County.
Lappland Guldprospektering is today in an exploration phase. This involves mapping, diamond core drilling and percussion drilling within granted exploration permits, as well as work on permit applications for the principal project. No mining is being conducted. Formalised consultation with reindeer herding communities (samebyar), local residents and the municipality is activated at each specific permit application, that is, when a particular activity requires consultation under the Swedish Environmental Code or equivalent. Between applications, the Company maintains an ongoing dialogue with the authorities and receives comments by email to the CEO.
Three separate legal processes
Exploitation concession
The Mining Inspectorate of Sweden (Bergsstaten) has granted the Stortjärnhobben K nr 1 exploitation concession, which covers 22 hectares. The concession confers the legal right to conduct mining within the delineated area. The land designation, which regulates the area taken into use, is dealt with in track 2.
Land designation
The Land and Environment Court granted the Company access to the land designation on 25 June 2025. The Vapsten Sámi reindeer herding community (sameby) appealed. The Land and Environment Court of Appeal granted leave to appeal on 10 November 2025. The matter is now being examined in full.
Environmental permit, trial mining
In January 2026, the Company submitted an application for an environmental permit for trial mining of 10,000 tonnes of rock under Chapter 9 of the Swedish Environmental Code. The examination covers the physical implementation of the activity on site.
A question of coexistence, not size.
Stortjärnhobben lies in a landscape that is also reindeer grazing land. The land designation is being examined by the Land and Environment Court of Appeal after the Vapsten Sámi reindeer herding community (sameby) appealed. Even though the land designation corresponds to about 0.005 per cent of the Vapsten reindeer herding community’s area, the question is not one of size, but of how the activity and reindeer husbandry can coexist.
“I have fished in these lands myself. The question is not how large the area is, but how a small intervention can coexist with reindeer husbandry, with the migration routes and the grazing calm. We take that responsibility seriously, and the question is now being examined in the courts. Whatever the outcome, we want to be a company that listens.”
Fredrik Johansson, CEO
The land designation is a matter of debate. The discussion has been conducted in Folkbladet. Here are the four contributions in order, with links to the original sources (in Swedish).
- 6 Feb 2026 The Green Party · opinion pieceInte guld men gröna skogar, nej till guldgruva i Storuman
- 10 Feb 2026 Lappland Guldprospektering · reply, Fredrik JohanssonBåde guld och gröna skogar i Storumans kommun?
- 4 Mar 2026 Reader’s letterVi behöver inte nytt guld, men gröna skogar
- 20 Mar 2026 Lappland Guldprospektering · opinion piece, Fredrik JohanssonEn gruva med guldstandard vad gäller klimatavtryck
Fact box: the Vapsten reindeer herding community holds reindeer grazing rights over an area of 9,725 km² (972,500 hectares), according to the Sámi Parliament. The Mining Inspectorate of Sweden (Bergsstaten) has granted the Company the right to take 51.86 hectares for the land designation, which corresponds to 0.0053 per cent of the reindeer herding community’s area (the Company’s third-quarter 2025 report). The size of the share does not determine the legal examination, which concerns where the intervention lies in relation to migration routes and grazing calm.
The land designation’s legal course
The Mining Inspectorate of Sweden’s decision on the land designation
The Mining Inspectorate of Sweden grants a land designation in favour of the Stortjärnhobben exploitation concession.
Read the press releaseThe Vapsten reindeer herding community appeals the Mining Inspectorate’s decision
The reindeer herding community appeals the Mining Inspectorate’s land designation decision to the Land and Environment Court in Umeå.
Read the press releaseThe Land and Environment Court gives the go-ahead
The Land and Environment Court delivers its judgment. Lappland Guldprospektering AB is granted access to the area in accordance with the Mining Inspectorate’s land designation.
Read the press releaseThe Vapsten reindeer herding community appeals to a higher instance
The reindeer herding community appeals the Land and Environment Court’s judgment to the Land and Environment Court of Appeal and applies for an interim order.
Read the press releaseThe Court of Appeal rejects the application for an interim injunction
The Land and Environment Court of Appeal rejects the Vapsten reindeer herding community’s application for an interim order. The Company retains access during the examination.
Read the press releaseLeave to appeal granted
The Land and Environment Court of Appeal grants leave to appeal for the reindeer herding community’s appeal. The matter is examined in full.
Read the press releaseCounterparties and consultation parties
The Vapsten Sámi reindeer herding community (sameby)
A reindeer herding community whose reindeer grazing partly overlaps with the Stortjärnhobben land designation area. Has appealed the land designation decision in two instances. The Company respects the legal process.
The Mining Inspectorate of Sweden (Bergsstaten)
Handles concessions and land designations under the Swedish Minerals Act. Granted the Stortjärnhobben K nr 1 exploitation concession and the land designation.
The Land and Environment Court, Umeå
Examined the appeal against the land designation and granted the Company access in a judgment on 25 June 2025. The judgment has been appealed to the Land and Environment Court of Appeal.
The Land and Environment Court of Appeal
The second instance. Examines the reindeer herding community’s appeal against the Land and Environment Court’s judgment on access to the land designation. Granted leave to appeal on 10 November 2025.
The County Administrative Board of Västerbotten
Examines the Company’s application for an environmental permit for trial mining under Chapter 9 of the Swedish Environmental Code, and handles referral and supervisory matters in the permit processes.
Storuman Municipality
The municipal referral authority for environmental permits and planning matters. Stortjärnhobben lies within Storuman Municipality, Västerbotten County.
Where the permits apply
When consultation is activated
Consultation and referral rounds follow the legal timetable for each permit. The Company is not in ongoing operational consultation with formalised committees, since its activity today is exploration. In matters that may affect reindeer husbandry, the Act on consultation in matters concerning the Sami people, the Sámi consultation procedure (konsultationsordningen), also applies.
Landowner information
On granting an exploration permit, the Mining Inspectorate of Sweden informs the landowners concerned. The Company supplements this with direct contact during field work. No formalised consultation process is required in this phase.
Consultation ahead of the application
Before the application to the Mining Inspectorate of Sweden, consultation was held with the reindeer herding communities concerned, the municipality, the County Administrative Board and local residents. For Stortjärnhobben, this took place before the concession was granted in 2007.
Legal examination
The land designation is decided in law by the Land and Environment Court and the Land and Environment Court of Appeal. The Vapsten reindeer herding community has appealed and the examination is ongoing. No further consultation process is initiated during the legal process.
Environmental Code consultation completed
Ahead of the trial mining application (submitted in January 2026), consultation was held under Chapter 6 of the Swedish Environmental Code with the reindeer herding communities concerned, local residents, the municipality and the County Administrative Board. Comments are documented in the consultation report.
Application for trial mining of 10,000 tonnes
In January 2026, the Company submitted an application for an environmental permit under Chapter 9 of the Swedish Environmental Code. The application concerns trial mining of 10,000 tonnes of rock from Stortjärnhobben. Trial mining is a Class B (category B) activity under the Environmental Assessment Ordinance (miljöprövningsförordningen) and is examined by the Environmental Permit Delegation at the County Administrative Board of Västerbotten County.
The application runs to more than 500 pages and was prepared with Sweco as principal consultant. Processing of the trial-mined material is planned at Dragon Mining Sweden’s processing plant in Svartliden, about 50 km from Stortjärnhobben, under a letter of intent from December 2025.
The purpose of the trial mining is to verify the quality, extent and volume of the deposit at full scale and to provide a basis for an assessment of future mining operations. The timing of a decision has not been set. The Company’s ambition is to begin trial mining during the autumn of 2026.
Questions about permits and consultation
Operational questions about the permit process are answered by the CEO, Fredrik Johansson. Investor and media questions about the process’s impact on the Company are answered by the CFO, Thomas Häggkvist. Technical questions about geology and resources are answered by the Competent Person, Lazaros Dalampiras.
Full contact details are available under Contact. Press releases on the development of the permit process are distributed via Cision and the Company’s press room.