REGMAR

Publication of acquatic environmental impact assessment as part of the application for the Joma mine zoning plan

As previously announced, Bluelake Mineral AB (publ) ("the Company" or "Bluelake") and its Norwegian subsidiary Joma Gruver AS ("Joma Gruver") have, as part of the permitting process in Norway, hired the technology and environmental consultant Multiconsult Norge AS ("Multiconsult ") for the conducting the so-called planning process, impact assessment and zoning plan for the Joma mine in Røyrvik municipality in Trøndelag, Norway. As also previously announced, the municipality of Røyrvik decided to send out Joma Gruver's proposal for the zoning plan to stakeholders for consultation. The consultation period for the responding parties was set at a minimum of 12 weeks and in the beginning of March 2022. The decision also included requirement for Joma Gruver to submit a supplementary impact assessment report related to potential risks of negative impact from the mining operations on surrounding water bodies (the "Assessment"). The Assessment was to be completed no later than four weeks before the end of the consultation period so that the municipality could distribute it to consultation parties without affecting the length of the consultation period. The Company today publishes the Assessment which has been developed by Multiconsult. The main conclusion of the Assessment is that planned new mining operations will not lead to a deterioration of the ecological and chemical condition of the water bodies and that mining operations are not considered to prevent the environmental objectives of the water regulations from being achieved. The Assessment has been prepared within the set time schedule of eight weeks and is not expected to have a negative effect on the consultation period.

The Company's copper and zinc project is owned and operated through the Company's Swedish subsidiary Vilhelmina Mineral AB and its Norwegian subsidiary Joma Gruver. The main projects consist of Swedish Stekenjokk and Levi in the county of Västerbotten in Sweden and Norwegian Joma located in the county of Trøndelag, all of which are geographically close to each other and are intended to be operated as one unit. For Stekenjokk and Levi, an application for an exploitation concession has been submitted to the Swedish authorities. In the case of Joma, the first step in the Norwegian equivalent of an exploitation concession has been obtained ("right of extraction"). The Norwegian permit process consists of several steps and in 2020 work began on the zoning plan, which consists of two parts. One part consists of a plan description that indicates which industrial area is intended to be taken into use and regulations for this. The second part consists of a number of socio-economic and environmental impact assessments, including investigations of the impact on water, land, biodiversity, Sami interests and reindeer herding, cultural monuments and outdoor life. The Norwegian consulting company Multiconsult, which has extensive experience and expert competence in these areas, is overall responsible for the work on the zoning plan. In June 2021, about 20 documents were submitted in connection with the commencement of the processing of the case. In September 2021, the application was further supplemented with investigations related to landfills and tailings. In connection with Røyrvik Municipality's decision to send the application for consultation, an additional supplementary impact assessment report was requested regarding the impact of the mining operations on the aquatic environment, which was stated to be able to be received during the ongoing consultation period. Through today's publication of the Assessment, the Company considers that all the documents needed for evaluation and decisions regarding the zoning plan have been submitted and that Røyrvik municipality can thus complete the ongoing public consultation round in the matter. For further information and the Assessment in its entirety, see appendices to this press release:

  • Joma Gruver KU vannmiljø Multiconsult
  • Vedlegg 6 SINTEF Notat Joma Gruver prosesskjemikalier

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Stockholm, January 2022
Bluelake Mineral AB (publ)
The Board of Directors

Publication of information

This information is inside information which Bluelake Mineral AB (publ) is required to publish in accordance with the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted, for publication on January 31, 2022, at 08.40 am CET, by the contact person above.

Additional information

For additional information, please contact:
Peter Hjorth, Managing Director, Bluelake Mineral AB (publ), phone +46-725 38 25 25
Email: [email protected] 

General information about the Company

Bluelake Mineral AB (publ) is an independent Swedish company active in exploration and mine development of copper, zinc, nickel and gold resources.

The Company owns approximately 99% of the subsidiary Vilhelmina Mineral AB, which is focusing on development of copper and zinc deposits in the Nordic region. In Sweden, the Company owns Stekenjokk-Levi project, where a total of approximately 7 million tonnes of ore were mined between 1976 and 1988 with an average grade 1.5% Cu and 3.5% Zn. Stekenjokk-Levi is, according to a recent (November 2021) Mineral Resource estimate by SRK Consulting, contains Inferred Mineral Resources of approximately 6.7 million tonnes with 0.9 % Cu, 2.7 % Zn, 0.6 % Pb, 55 Ag g/t and 0.2 g/t Au for Stekenjokk and Inferred Mineral Resources of 5.1 million tonnes with 1.0 % Cu, 1.5 % Zn, 0.1 % Pb, 22 Ag g/t and 0.2 g/t Au for Levi (at a NSR cut-off of 60 USD/t). In Norway, the Company is owner in the Joma field, where approximately 11.5 million tonnes of ore were processed between 1972 and 1998 with an average grade of 1.5% Cu and 1.5% Zn. The Joma field (excluding Gjersvik) is, according to a recent mineral estimate by SRK Consulting, containing indicated mineral resources of approximately 6 million tonnes with grades amounting to 1.00 % Cu and 1.66 % Zn and inferred resources of 1.2 million tonnes with grades 1.2 % Cu and 0.7 % Zn (at cut-off of 50 USD/tonne).

In addition, the Company owns the nickel projects Rönnbäcken (which is Europe's largest known undeveloped nickel resource) and Orrbäcken in Sweden. According to the mining consulting company SRK, the Rönnbäcken project contains a mineral resource of 668 million tonnes with an average grade of 0.176% nickel ("measured and indicated"). The preliminary economic assessment that SRK completed predicts a production of 26,000 tonnes of high-grade nickel concentrate per year for 20 years, which would be a significant proportion of Sweden's total annual use of nickel which thereby has a strategic value. Orrbäcken is an exploration license that is considered to have potential as a nickel deposit.

The Company owns the gold project Haveri, through its subsidiary Palmex Mining Oy, which in 2014 carried out a so-called Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) prepared by SRK Consulting. This report estimates 1.56 million oz. historically inferred mineral resource of gold equivalents with a grade of 0.93 g/t gold.) Kattisavan is mainly considered to have potential as a gold resource and is located within the so-called gold line, close to projects such as Svartliden, Fäboliden and Barsele


Om Bluelake Mineral

Bolagets affärsidé är att identifiera, förvärva och utveckla intressanta mineralprojekt fram till gruvstart och att antingen driva gruvan i samarbete med större industriell partner eller sälja projekten till dylik partner. Fokus ligger på utveckling av basmetallprojekt i Norden.

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Peter Hjorth VD [email protected] +46 (0)72-538 25 25