Anglo American's Sakatti copper project given 'strategic' status by EU

(Sharecast News) - Anglo American said on Tuesday that its Sakatti copper and polymetallic project in Finland has been designated as a 'strategic project' by the European Commission. Under the European Union's Critical Raw Materials Act (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.

Alison Atkinson, Anglo'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."