Arctic Gold AB (ARCT): No new decision from the Kautokeino Municipal Government

Today the municipal government of Kautokeino was to take up a number of issues, among them Artic Gold's application for re-processing with a modified Plan Program. On the agenda it was clear that two questions regarding points of fact in the rejection of our case by the Municipal Government on April 26 were to be handled first. The first question concerned whether three members of the Municipal Government had had a vested interest in the decision. The vote concluded that this was not the case. The second question concerned whether our case had been incorrectly handled according to the Norwegian Plan och Byggningsloven (plan and building law). The majority considered that this had not been the case according to the interpretation of the statements by the Fylkesman's attorneys and the persons handling the case at Miljödepartementet (Environmental Protection Agency). After these two questions had been voted upon the request for re-processing from Arctic Gold, with the modified Plan Program, was supposed to have been discussed and voted upon. But this point on the agenda was unfortunately not brought up by the Municipal Government. Therefore the municipal government's decision from April 26 to reject the case still stands, and Arctic Gold does not know why the request for re-processing was not brought up and voted on separately. We also do not know whether the issue can be handled in a later meeting, says company CEO Lars-Åke Claesson who attended on the spectator bench.

We note that the politicians in the Kautokeino municipality seem to have a hard time discussing the points of fact, and would rather discuss the opposing views within the political blocks and within the parties as well, say Claesson.

The CEO in Arctic Gold, Lars-Åke Claesson, is very disappointed that the matter was not handled based on its own merits but with help of many factual errors and as many politicians put it "you already know the damage mining operations cause".

To say no to something requires just as much knowledge of the facts as saying yes. Not knowing what it is that is being rejected is not fair to the local population who will never know what effects a mining operation would have on the local economy, the environment and the reindeer herding, says Claesson.

Arctic Gold’s CEO emphasizes that the company is not interested in starting mining operations in the area at any price, but that it is impossible to evaluate the matter without knowing what the various alternatives involve.

Finally, the company must once again wait for information as to how our case will be handled and how this will be carried out in accordance with law.

For further information, please contact the company's CEO.

Lars-Åke Claesson
CEO
Arctic Gold AB
46 18 156423
46 70 6733294
claesson@arcticgold.se
www.arcticgold.se

Arctic Gold's business concept is to engage in exploration activities to discover and demonstrate commercially extractable gold and base metal deposits in Scandinavia; The strategy is primarily to carry out exploration work and either sell the project within a few years or to establish mining activities under the company's own control or through a partnership with other companies. Arctic Gold focuses mainly on the Bidjovagge project in northern Norway and current gold and base metal permits in Västerbotten and Norrbotten.