AvestaPolarit Chrome Oy Kemi Mine release

The Northern Finland Environmental Permit Authority has issued a new environmental permit for AvestaPolarit Oy Kemi Mine on 20 November 2002. The permit includes an environmental permit and a water management permit for the Kemi Mine and Kemi Concentrating Plant.

AvestaPolarit Kemi Mine appealed of its previous environmental permit (waste permit) given in June 1999 to the Supreme Administrative Court. In its appeal AvestaPolarit said that the by-products of the mining process, barren rock and tailings, are not waste in the meaning of the Waste Directive but by-products as regulated in the Finnish Mining Act. The Supreme Administrative Court made a request for a preliminary ruling to the European Court of Justice in March 2000. An oral hearing will be held at the European Court of Justice on 23 January 2003.

In this new environmental permit issued on 20 November, both the barren rock and tailings have been defined as waste though they have not been discarded (in the meaning of the Waste Directive): they are natural stone material. This will probably compel AvestaPolarit to make an appeal.

The waste interpretation will lead to additional costs in Finnish mining operations compared to competitors: for example a financial guarantee for waste management, 1.2 MEUR, has to be arranged. The rise in cost level will have impact on investments and development in the field in Finland. This domestic waste interpretation is against the principles of sustainable development and the objectives of the Environmental Protection Act and the Waste Act.

Some of the monitoring requirements are new and quite extensive, for example monitoring the quality of groundwater and dissolving compounds from the by-products. Kemi Mine will, however, fulfill the obligations even though it does not consider them justified in all respects. With the exceptions of the waste interpretation and the rise in cost level, this new environmental permit seems to be quite acceptable even though demanding.

For further information please contact
· Jaakko Ahtiainen, General Manager - Kemi Mine +358 16 453 520 +358 40 7709700
· Raimo Bergström, Quality Manager  +358 16 453 531 +358 40 5485103