In February 2025, Boliden was granted a processing concession, but the decision was appealed by a Sami village, which claimed the impact on the reindeer industry would be greater than indicated by investigations.
The government has rejected the appeal. The Sami village is considered able to continue reindeer herding within the village despite the impact from the mining industry.
"Nautanen is one of the largest known copper deposits in Sweden. If the deposit can be extracted, it would increase Sweden's and the EU's supply of this strategically important metal," said Minister of Energy and Enterprise Ebba Busch (KD) in a press release.
