Mining and exploration in focus on Swedish Television

A few days ago, the Swedish news program Agenda reported on the protest movement VetoNu, which works to prevent mining of Alum Shale in Österlen. As I have written earlier, the UK/Australian company Scandivanadium wants to explore the Alum Shale for its high content of Vanadium (a fact known since the 1940s) and plans to start open pit mining with the aim to provide Vanadium for redox-flow batteries, and as Scandivanadium always states: to save our Planet and to contribute to a green technology.

The program was quite well balanced and provided space for VetoNu. and for Scandivanadium. But – for Scandivanadium only their co-founder and investor Alex Walker was interviewed, but not their geologist David Minchin. Why this, when it is all about geology? Or is it actually rather about money and investment?

Moreover, and most importantly – not a single geologist or geochemist, who has knowledge regarding the geochemical composition of the Alum Shale and/or knowledge regarding old mine waste and spoil from Alum Shale in Sweden was interviewed. Do all geologists who know something about the subject have conflicts of interest? I found this lack of geological/geochemical knowledge in the program more than just disturbing. It gives viewers the idea that the protest against mining of Alum Shale is just a protest against mines in general, which is definitely not the case. What people are worried about in Österlen and also in other parts of Sweden, such as in Jämtland (Viken project), is that exploration and mining is focused on Alum Shale. A sedimentary rock known for its special geochemistry and for its high content of a range of metals and minerals.

So instead of getting first hand knowledge from a geologist who knows the Alum Shale, Swedish TV interviewed the Director General of the Geological Survey of Sweden, Lena Söderberg, who is not a geologist. Accordingly, she did not discuss the geology/geochemistry in question, but used the – by now old mantra – of sustainable mining and new critical metals for a green future.

I have heard this mantra now so many times, and especially from the government, the mining industry and associates, but I have never heard an explanation to what ‘sustainable’ and ‘green technology’ is in this respect. Where and what is the green technology? What exactly is sustainable when it comes to opening new mines? How will the waste be dealt with? How sustainable is it to pollute ground water and agricultural land for centuries to come? Is it sustainable to drive landowners from their land? Is sustainable because mines will be located in Sweden and because Sweden sells itself as ‘green’?

Maybe someone could help me on track here and explain to me what I obviously do not seem to understand.