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Comment by londons_explore | Hacker News Reader

> If we look at how other permit processes have worked within our industry, it will be at least 10-15 years...

When it takes 15 years simply to get permission to do something, you know that your country will never be competitive globally.

Either the benefits outweigh the downsides, or vice versa. A group of 10 of the right experts ought to be able to decide that in a week.

Spending 15 years paper-pushing, doing court battles, public enquiries, etc. just delays the process. At the end of the day, you will end up either doing it or not doing it, and whatever you choose is best decided quickly (with the right expertise).

Perhaps we should adopt a system like for the choosing of popes - we lock the experts in a room till they come up with a consensus conclusion.

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> When it takes 15 years simply to get permission to do something, you know that your country will never be competitive globally.

I think Sweden is quite competitive in general. Also, as others have said, it could have pretty big impact on various things. But I guess if Sweden was a dictatorship the government could just decide to start digging and not care about the people living there or the environment. 10-15 years sounds very long though, but a week.. I don’t know in which country that would happen.

There is also the sami peoples reindeer herding, safety, environmental impact, relocating, buying land. You could not decide things like this in a week if you have a system where human and ecological rights are respected.

The environmental impact would be net positive. If it isn't, then there's little to discuss in Sweden, it simply won't happen.

Everything else is just details.

> Worldwide, the environmental impact might end up being net positive.

FTFY.

Mining never ends well for the local mine environment.

You are aware we're talking about a large scale mining operation here?

That doesn't just mean surveying and analysis, but may also involve such things as resettling people, planning new routes for existing rivers and other water, as well as figuring out externalities that will remain after mining is done, but still should be accounted for.

Doing those things will take time, sure.

But making the decision whether those things should be done should not take long.

I'm sure that's based on your long experience setting up mining operations?

The area is already planned for mining and nobody lives there, it is right next to the largest iron ore mining operation in Europe. Wouldn't even need to move workers, since they already live next to it.

Yes, the problem with your reasoning is those are all things any non-expert could think of. That doesn't mean there aren't concerns that are more complicated than what some programmer on a forum can think of in 2 minutes.

FTA: “LKAB has already started to prepare a drift, several kilometres long, at a depth of approximately 700 metres in the existing Kiruna mine towards the new deposit in order to be able to investigate it at depth and in detail.“

TIL Sweden never has been competitive.

I used to think that the 40K universe was ridicolous when it states that the human empire is hamstringed, outright decaying, through 'bureaucracy' - I don't think that anymore.

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