ANGLO American said on Tuesday its Sakatti project in Finland had been designated strategic by the European Commission – a development that would improve the permitting process for the venture.Anglo intends to produce about 100,000 tons a year of copper equivalent metals from Sakatti which will form part of its one million tons a year target for the metal. The project, located in Finnish Lapland, is planned to begin production in the early 2030s.Sakatti was judged strategic under the European Union’s (EU’s) Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) in terms of which it will ensure security of supply of strategic raw materials in the EU, said Anglo. As a result, it would benefit “from more efficient processing of permitting applications and therefore more predictable development timelines,” said Anglo.“The EU currently produces about 4% of the critical minerals it needs and has a stated ambition to increase this to 10%,” said Alison Atkinson, Anglo’s Projects & Development director in a statement. “[W]e expect to play a significant role in helping to build Europe’s capacity and secure the responsible supply of the metals and minerals required for decarbonising our energy and transport systems,” she said.Anglo has explored for minerals for 20 years, having begun mineral exploration activity in 2004. It discovered the Sakatti deposit in 2009.“Finland provides a stable and secure source of many of the metals and minerals needed for the world to decarbonise, as well as longstanding processing and refining capability, bringing benefits across the Nordic region,” said Anglo.“With an increasing number of countries prioritising sustainable access to responsibly sourced critical raw materials, Finland is well positioned in terms of its natural resources and the country’s investment across the critical minerals value chain, from exploration to mining, processing, and recycling,” it said.The post EU designates Anglo’s Sakatti copper project ‘strategic’ appeared first on Miningmx.
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