Talga Group has waited for more than a decade to go ahead with a graphite mine in Sweden that could supply enough battery material to power two million electric cars a year and reduce the continent’s dependence on China.
Yet after some signs of progress, the Australian company is back in administrative limbo on its Nunasvaara South site after a court date for an environmental permit was postponed until February.
The slow process has left the project at the prospecting stage since 2011.
“The basic problem we are getting is that there is this unlimited processing time,” said Martin Phillips, chief operating officer at Talga, which says graphite from its mine and refinery running on renewable energy will make the world’s greenest electric vehicle battery anode.
“That creates the challenge for us to keep financing our company while we wait for the Swedish authorities to make a decision.”
Two years ago, the European Union highlighted Sweden’s vast mineral resources, which include about half of the 30 raw materials the bloc considers critical to meeting its goals for green technology such as EV batteries.
Sourcing them from within the EU would ease reliance on China at a time when supply chain snags and geopolitical tensions are fueling a push toward greater self-sufficiency.
Yet prospects for getting projects underway look more uncertain than ever because of a lengthy permitting framework and fervent local opposition, miners say.