Europe's largest deposit of rare-earth minerals sits directly in the path of an ancient reindeer migration route 124 miles above the Arctic Circle

"High atop the Luossavaara Mountain in northern Sweden, Sami reindeer herder Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen mapped out a bleak future for himself and other Indigenous people whose reindeer have roamed this land for thousands of years. An expanding iron-ore mine and a deposit of rare-earth minerals are fragmenting the land and altering ancient reindeer migration routes. But with the Arctic warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, herders say they need more geographic flexibility, not less, to ensure the animals' survival."

"If a mine is established at the deposit of rare-earth minerals called Per Geijer, which Sweden heralds as Europe's largest, Kuhmunen said it could completely cut off the migration routes used by the Sami village of Gabna. That would be the end of the Indigenous way of life for Kuhmunen, his children and their fellow Sami reindeer herders, he said, in this far-north corner of Sweden some 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the Arctic Circle."

High atop Luossavaara Mountain in northern Sweden, Sami reindeer herder Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen warned that expanding mining and a rare-earth deposit are fragmenting land and altering ancient reindeer migration routes. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the global average, increasing the need for geographic flexibility to ensure reindeer survival. A proposed mine at the Per Geijer rare-earth deposit could cut off migration routes used by the Sami village of Gabna and end reindeer-based livelihoods. Sami herders descend from a once-nomadic people across northern Fennoscandia. Sweden counts at least 20,000 people with Sami heritage and regulates herding through sameby entities that set reindeer quotas.

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