The Konsuln deposit which lies within the boundaries of LKAB industrial site in Kiruna holds at least one million tonnes of ore. The plan is to start mining as soon as possible.

Konsuln is situated close to the southern extremity of Kiirunavaara 80-meter wide, four-kilometer long orebody. In the 1970s it was pit-mined, and during the '80s the operation moved underground. However, due to technical difficulties, the market situation and the fact that the ore had excessively high phosphorus content, LKAB abandoned Konsuln.

These problems have since been resolved. Market conditions are good and with modern methods, phosphorus can be removed from the ore in an environmentally friendly way. The plan is to haul ore up from Konsuln by truck.

Mr Anders Lindholm General Manager Mining Kiruna said the deposit is within our own area. This means that mining of Konsuln will have no impact on the area surrounding our industrial site. And in Konsuln, there are no rock stresses.

LKAB does not yet know the exact extent of the deposit.

He said that we know that it contains about one million tonnes of ore. Now, we're going to take a closer look to verify this or to see if it is in fact much bigger than we expected.

Konsuln is part of the Kiruna mine which means that LKAB already holds the necessary permits to resume mining of the deposit. This will simplify re-opening of the mine.

Mr Anders Lindholm said we plan to start production as soon as possible, but without jeopardizing safety.