Anglo American’s Sakatti project awarded ‘Strategic Project’ status by European Commission

Anglo American’s Sakatti copper and polymetallic project in Finland has been designated as a ‘Strategic Project’ by the European Commission under the European Union’s (EU) Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA).

Under the CRMA, Strategic Projects are considered to be in the public interest due to their importance in ensuring security of supply of strategic raw materials in the EU, thereby benefiting from more efficient processing of permitting applications and therefore more predictable development timelines, Anglo American explains.

Alison Atkinson, Anglo American’s Projects & Development Director, said: “We are delighted to be awarded Strategic Project status for Sakatti – an important milestone for this exceptional mineral deposit with a high concentration of future-enabling metals, including a primary product of copper, very much aligned with Finland’s and the EU’s critical raw materials priorities.

“The EU currently produces about 4% of the critical minerals it needs and has a stated ambition to increase this to 10%. With Sakatti expected to deliver around 100,000 tonnes of copper-equivalent metal production per year from the early 2030s, we expect to play a significant role in helping to build Europe’s capacity and secure the responsible supply of the metals and minerals required for decarbonising our energy and transport systems, numerous advanced technologies, and meeting the fast-growing demands of hundreds of millions of people in their everyday lives.”

Anglo American says it has a number of well-sequenced brownfield and greenfield prospects for a pathway to more than 1 Mt of annual copper production, which includes the greenfield Sakatti project. Last year marked 20 years of Anglo American in Finland, having begun mineral exploration activity in 2004 and discovered the Sakatti deposit in 2009.

Located in Finnish Lapland, 15 km north of Sodankylä, the company is applying its blueprint for responsible mining to design and develop Sakatti as one of our next generation of FutureSmart mines – a highly automated, low-carbon underground operation with minimal surface footprint.

Back in October 2023, Atkinson said Sakatti was being designed as the next generation of FutureSmart Mining, building on what it has learned from Quellaveco and Woodsmith, particularly when it comes to ensuring there is minimal surface footprint and “using technology and innovations to deliver even better sustainability outcomes”. She added: “Sakatti is set to be a remotely operated, low carbon-underground mine with an electric mining fleet using technology and mining methods that will create zero waste and enable high degrees of water recycling, contributing to a sustainable supply of critical minerals.”

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