Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves 2023

“Increased Mineral Reserves in the Boliden Area has added equivalent to almost two years of production which is important for us. Also, exploration continues to give good results in Nautanen north of Aitik where we are working to eventually secure an environmental permit,” says Stefan Romedahl, President Boliden Mines.

The cost of exploration in 2023 was SEK 853 m (770).

Aitik
In Aitik, Liikavaara is just about to come into production. Liikavaara is a part of Aitik Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve and will be included in the production from 2024. Exploration and evaluation are also underway at the Nautanen deposit approximately 15 km north of Aitik, which is reported separately.

An improved and more specified cost model led to pit design changes and increased Mineral Reserves of 12 Mtonnes, despite mining of 41 Mtonnes in 2023. The Mineral Resource, which in the open pit involves tonnage that, with today’s estimated prices and costs, lies outside the planned final open pit, decreased by 200 Mtonnes.

The Boliden Area
In the Boliden Area, the total Mineral Reserves increased by 1.2 Mtonnes (10%) mainly by converting mineral resources in the Rävliden mineralisation in Kristineberg. New resources added by exploration have been limited and since larger quantities are converted to reserves the resources have decreased with 2.0 Mtonnes (7%). 1.6 Mtonnes were milled in the Boliden Area in 2023.

Garpenberg
In Garpenberg, successful exploration activities, infill drilling and technical studies have for many years given a significant increase in both Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. However, this year the reserve decreased by 8.4 Mtonnes (8%) due to higher cut-off, redesign and 3.1 Mtonnes milled in 2023. The resource increased marginally with 0.5 Mtonnes (0.6%).

Kevitsa
The mining waste dilution in the upper parts of the new push-back is higher than in deeper central parts of the pit. That has affected plans and the Mineral Reserve grades. Grades are down by approximately 10 percent. The uncertain permit situation for the tailing dam expansion has caused 20 Mtonnes to be converted back from reserve to resource. The Mineral Reserve has decreased with 19 Mtonnes (19%) while the Mineral Resource increased with 25 Mtonnes (17%). 9.8 Mtonnes were milled in 2023.

Tara
Tara was placed under care and maintenance in July 2023. That also stopped all exploration towards Tara Deep. The existing Life of Mine Plan remains economically feasible with long term assumptions and Mineral Reserves are still declared for Tara. No new resource estimations have been made, and the reserves and resources are last year’s figures minus mining of 1.1 Mtonnes until operations stopped. Preparatory work, including a new production plan, is underway for a possible restart in 2024.

About the classification
Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves are estimated separately and divided into different categories. Conditions in the form of costs and metal prices are established at the beginning of the year and used in all estimates made during the year. Boliden’s Mineral Resources are exclusive of Mineral Reserves. When a Mineral Resource is converted to a Mineral Reserve, the quantity is removed from the Mineral Resource.

Boliden follows the recommendations of the Swedish Mining Association (SveMin) for reporting exploration results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves and strives to report according to the Pan-European Reserves and Resources Reporting Committee (PERC). The PERC standard has clear requirements for documentation and the Competent Persons, who must evaluate the information that companies report. All summary reports for Mineral
Resources and Mineral Reserves per project and mine available on the Boliden website, are reviewed and approved by the competent persons presented in the respective report. This summary of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves has been reviewed and approved by Gunnar Agmalm, Competent Person and Head of Ore Reserves and Project Evaluation, Boliden, who is a member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and The Fennoscandian Association for Metals and Minerals Professionals (FAMMP), both of which are approved organizations for competent persons according to PERC.

Boliden uses the planning prices as a basis for estimations of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves as well as, for example, for calculations on investments and operational development.

For further information, please contact:
Klas Nilsson, Director Group Communications, tel: +46 (0)70-453 65 88
[email protected]

This information is information that Boliden AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of Director Communications, at 07.49 CET on February 8, 2024.

Boliden’s vision is to be the most climate-friendly and respected metal provider in the world. We are Europe’s producer of sustainable metals and, guided by our values care, courage and responsibility, we operate within exploration, mines, smelters and recycling. We are around 6,000 employees and have annual revenues of approximately SEK 80 billion. The share is listed in the Large Cap segment of NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.