This is a very welcome decision for LKAB, and for increased self-sufficiency in Sweden and Europe. By extracting phosphorus and rare earth elements from residual products from iron ore mining, we can strengthen our future competitiveness, whilst also helping to secure important supply chains and provide society with the critical minerals needed for the transition.

The need is significant. Today, Europe is almost entirely dependent on imports of these strategically important and critical minerals, while demand is rising rapidly. The court's decision is therefore very welcome news. It means we now have a crucial piece of the puzzle in place to be able to move forward with our plans.

The ruling is very welcome news for Luleå and for society as a whole. In the current geopolitical setting, it is more important than ever to secure our supply of phosphorus and rare earth elements. I share LKAB's delight at this important first step towards future investment, more jobs and a long-term sustainable world with reduced climate emissions.

LKAB and the municipality are mutually dependent on each other, and it’s positive that we can stand side by side and talk about the process at this very early stage, even though we still lack the involvement of the state in this. At this point, it’s too early to say exactly how the city will develop, but I am confident that Kiruna will remain strong today, tomorrow, and in the future.

We want to do what we can to encourage people to stay in the municipality, and this will hopefully give the people of Kiruna better conditions for planning their future. Our goal is to offer those who need to relocate the opportunity to choose between different types of compensation solutions.

Our current sorting plant has served us well, but it has reached the end of its lifespan. The new plant is designed to handle larger volumes and is adapted to today’s operations in terms of work environment and technology. It’s a crucial investment to ensure continued long-term and profitable operations in Gällivare. With the new plant, we will eventually be able to sort an additional seven to eight million tonnes of crude ore, while also helping to secure volumes of apatite for potential extraction of critical minerals.

By constructing a new sorting plant, we get a modern facility that both secures today’s production and increases capacity for our planned expansion. It also improves the working environment for our employees and reduces our environmental impact by lowering noise, dust, and carbon dioxide emissions from our operations.

It will be a challenge for the residents of Kiruna, the municipality, and us at LKAB, but fundamentally it is positive that we have so much ore that we can continue operations and invest in our shared future.

We are seeing a greater impact from our current mining operations, while exploration in recent years has given us a clearer picture of the deposits. The ore continues to extend eastward under the old town, but also northward, where it remains open at depth – in other words, we don’t see the end of it yet. That’s why we now want to take action to compensate and develop new residential areas.

Even if we stopped the mine today, the deformations would continue for many years. If we want to keep a mine in Kiruna, the area has to be transformed. A vibrant Kiruna is essential for our operations, and for both us and society to continue developing, we need to carry this out — in close cooperation with those affected,

We have a big task ahead of us. A major advantage is that we know so much more now than when the transformation of Kiruna began in 2004. Back then, we often said we didn’t have the answers — because nothing like this had ever been done before. Now we have extensive knowledge and experience to build on.

I want to extend a big thank you to everyone who has worked on the project and to the people of Kiruna who have shown both patience and commitment. The fact that so many followed this historic move has turned it into a shared experience and a memory for life.

It has been an incredible journey, with a beautiful farewell and an encouraging beginning to something new. The church has finally found its new home, and it’s touching to see all the warmth and sense of community that has been shown over these days. Now, we look forward to the day when we can open the church doors and gather with the congregation again to start the next chapter of our history.

We’ve been planning for the move for several years by working on an overall design for the church and the surrounding block. It’s a whole cultural environment that is being moved to a new location. It’s been demanding, but with good cooperation, we’ve managed to create something truly special. It’s been amazing to see the church move, and it’s very positive for the city.

We are very much affected by market developments and external factors. However, our focus is on what we can influence and improve ourselves – our delivery reliability and production stability. Increased volumes are a prerequisite for our success both in the short term and in a longer perspective, especially in light of the major investments we are facing.

Carola has a unique ability to touch people, and with her presence she adds an extra sparkle to the celebration of the move. The church has been an important gathering place for generations and we are very happy that one of the country's leading voices wants to be involved and carry that sense of community forward to the next chapter in the development of Kiruna. It will be a worthy ending and an evening to remember.

For generations, the church has been an important gathering place with a special place in many people's hearts. We want the relocation to become a cherished memory and create new opportunities to come together. What could be more fitting than KAJ bringing their sauna spirit to Kiruna, with the warmth, joy, and sense of community they radiate. We are very happy that they want to contribute in making this an unforgettable event.

Coming to Kiruna for the church relocation is truly fantastic. It is an event that will go down in the history books, and being part of it is a memory for life. We hope all the residents of Kiruna warm up with a proper sauna, as we'll soon meet each other at the square in the new town center to sing, laugh, and share the moment together.

We are affected by a world that is difficult to assess, marked by significant uncertainty in trade flows and security policy tensions, which have temporarily overshadowed the focus on the climate. However, the things that we can actually impact – our production, costs and plant stability – are managed well and with quality. This is continuous work without shortcuts, and now we can clearly see our efforts having an effect.

This is an important and carefully planned move, and we are approaching the finish line. The church is truly unique and means a lot to many people beyond just being a landmark of Kiruna, and we want to give everyone the opportunity to follow and be a part of this historic event.

It feels significant and wonderful that the church will be moving to its new location and coming home. Throughout this entire journey, we have had a good dialogue with LKAB and the municipality, and now we long for and look forward to reopening the church and having a vibrant parish life in the new location,

Moving the Kiruna Church, a building of such dignity, is a historic event both for Kiruna and for the entire country. It has always been a safe haven and a beautiful structure that we are all proud of. We are happy to be able to offer a fantastic new location near Kiruna’s new city center, where the building can continue to shine. It will be incredibly exciting to follow the church’s relocation,

These are very good results which continue to support the strategic direction of the company. These significant mineral assets are the result of great efforts from all our colleagues and teams working together. The potential for Sweden's iron ore supply and also for the supply of critical minerals has once again improved and provides increased security for the future.

LKAB's ambition is to gradually build a stable, competitive, and sustainable industrial value chain within the EU. This decision underscores that our plans align with Europe's needs both for electrification and for increased self-sufficiency in strategic and critical minerals. Access to these materials is crucial for future electric vehicles, wind turbines, and food supply.

The green transition and the electrification of our society start in the mine. It is an unsustainable contradiction to want electric vehicles and wind turbines without also taking responsibility for the raw materials. With this facility, we are taking a decisive step toward reducing Europe's import dependency and ensuring access to critical minerals and metals for the future.

The world has now turned its attention to metals and minerals once again. We are currently almost entirely dependent on imports for phosphorus and rare earth elements, while demand is rising sharply. By extracting these critical minerals, LKAB can make better use of the material we already mine and strengthen our future competitiveness, while also improving security of supply and preparedness in Europe. This facility is a crucial building block to make that possible.

We are honoured to receive this recognition by the GAEA Awards and the World Economic Forum. It is an important acknowledgement of the groundbreaking collaboration and journey we have undertaken together with SSAB and Vattenfall. The results show that the HYBRIT process works and that we are well positioned for the next step of industrializing the technology and establishing a competitive value chain for the fossil-free iron- and steelmaking of the future.

The geopolitical situation and Sweden’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2045 make the need for critical minerals urgent. The EU is today entirely dependent on imports of phosphorus and rare earth elements, which it classifies as critical raw materials. This application is crucial for enabling a future investment decision for full-scale production in Luleå.

LKAB's environmental permit application is another step towards the development of the full-scale industrial park in Luleå. It is encouraging to see them move forward according to their plan with this establishment, which is important for the continued development of both the municipality and the region as a hub for the green transition. The production of these critical minerals for wind turbines, electric vehicles, and food security is essential for our entire society and provides an opportunity to create new jobs for the future.

The outlook for continued increases to the life of LKAB’s mines has been greatly enhanced by these additions to the mineral assets of the company

The investment and ownership in REEtec is thereby a natural extension of our value chain and fits well with our strategy.

The climate can't wait and demand for the raw material for producing fossil-free steel is already upon us – before we have even reached the market.

There is tremendous global interest in what is happening in our part of the world right now. We are breaking new ground on the journey towards fossil-free iron and steelmaking, which is the greatest thing we can do together for the climate. Expo is a unique opportunity to place Sweden and LKAB on the map in relation to the sustainability challenges the world is facing and we hope that others will follow our example.

To improve safety, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and to increase productivity in our mines is vital for LKAB to be able to continue to deliver climate-efficient iron ore products.

In this case, the European Commission has pursued a policy of willingly subsidizing the steel industry's continued use of the least climate-effective technologies.

Such a large increase in mineral resources is a prerequisite both for continuing to operate as a mining company and for our major transition to carbon-dioxide-free products.

The premium for the spot price has been subject to downward pressure because of the current global uncertainty; at the same time, industries of the future are unquestionably driving towards more sustainable processes. LKAB continues to focus on developing and delivering highly upgraded iron ore products with clear added value and climate benefits in steelmaking processes.

In the coming years LKAB must have a solution in place to be able to mine iron ore at depths approaching or exceeding 2,000 metres in a cost-effective way by employing technology that is safe, autonomous, electrified, digitalized and carbon-dioxide-free. To enable this, collaboration with other leading industrial companies will be decisive. Sandvik's longstanding experience of producing underground vehicle systems will complement the ongoing work in an important way.

This investment will amount to several billion Swedish kronor and create hundreds of jobs. The industrial park will be a centre for chemical engineering where innovative technology is used to recover valuable resources. Here, we will set a global standard for clean products, energy efficiency and emissions,

Together we can rebuild Sweden as the world’s first fossil-free welfare nation

Achieving positive results from different heating technologies represents an important milestone on the road to delivering the world’s very first fossil-free iron ore pellets

Ultimately, this will make LKAB's iron ore pellets completely carbon-dioxide-free.

Analyses of ongoing prospecting results indicate that the ore volumes in Kiruna at depth do not correspond to previous assumptions. LKAB is therefore now investing on a broad front to meet this challenge.

Now our goal is to have a full-scale plant for production of ammonium phosphate and rare earth metals within five years.

Jan Moström, LKAB’s President and CEO

There is only one way to go if we are to secure long-term sustainable mining operations in Malmfälten.We have to enhance productivity – in other words, produce more with fewer employees – and we have to cut costs by working smarter.

LKAB is facing an intensely changing market which requires a somewhat different leadership competence, with increased focus on cost efficiency and productivity. LKAB's board has decided to appoint a new CEO with experience in rationalization and development of the mining industry. Jan Moström will contribute great knowledge especially in production.