State ownership and control of minerals and mines in Sweden and Finland

Abstract

In recent years, Sweden and Finland both have experienced an exploration and mining boom, in particular, when comparing with the situation 10 years ago. The mining companies are once again highly profitable. A tax or royalty on produced mineral resources has been debated in both countries. The issue of ownership of minerals covered by the Mineral Acts is, however, not clear in any of the countries. Whether or not the State is regarded as the owner of minerals which are regulated by the Mining Acts, the State, however, does have a decisive influence on the exploration and extraction of mineral assets in Sweden and Finland. Ownership may also refer to holding of shares in a company exploring for or mining metals. In a broader context, the role of the State might be traced in mineral policies or strategies, which have been issued recently in several EU member states, Finland and Sweden included. This article, comparative in its nature, aims to investigate and analyse how the State in Sweden and Finland adjusts mineral rights and control of mining companies, and with a historical survey and a short international overview as a basis, the authors present a few observations on the role of the State for the countries’ future mineral strategies. In this article, the role of the State in Sweden and Finland is discussed in a historical context as to ownership of mineral resources, regulatory rules and control of mining and ownership of State-mining and/or exploration companies. The article shows that different roads have been chosen historically depending on the current view of State ownership in society. This also means that mineral strategies must be continuously updated, and actively incorporating the historical experiences. We believe that the role of the State, as an owner or controller of the two countries’ mineral resources and as regulator of exploration and mining activities, must be dealt with more thoroughly in both countries’ mineral strategies. We also believe that Sweden and Finland, sharing an overall positive experience from State ownership and control in all the ways discussed in this article, also must share and communicate this to other countries and international organisations: firstly, in the EU and the European Commission and secondly, outside the EU and Europe and within the UN and the African Union.