Strategic mining on Sámi lands: risks for Indigenous rights

This paper contributes to just transition debates, providing novel and timely evidence about how emerging critical mineral governance plays out vis-à-vis state obligations to protect Sámi rights. Focus is on the designation of strategic extraction projects under the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act and the role of negotiated agreements between Sámi herding communities and mining companies. Using Swedish state-owned mining company LKAB’s proposed Per Geijer project on traditional Sámi lands as case study, the authors conduct a legal analysis drawing on Indigenous rights, specifically the state duty to seek and obtain free, prior and informed consent. Findings demonstrate inherent flaws in the strategic project mechanism and corporate breaches of international standards – with the agreement between LKAB and the herding community serving to contain criticism and distract from continued power imbalances. The authors argue that strategic mining projects perpetuate a colonial state-industry nexus with an urgent need to incorporate rigorous human rights safeguards.