LKAB is paying
In accordance with the Minerals Act, it is LKAB that pays for the impact and costs that arise when the company's mining makes the urban transformations necessary.
To date, LKAB has paid out around SEK 23.7 billion and reserved an additional SEK 33.2 billion for the urban transformations since 2006 (updated: 2025). Many people ask whether LKAB can afford to pay for the urban transformations. The answer is that as long as we conduct mining operations in Malmfälten, we must be able to afford it.
LKAB paying is a prerequisite for continued mining and is not something we can opt out of or postpone. Mining ore in large underground mines is expensive. LKAB must always plan well in advance and consider the costs to ensure that it is profitable to continue. If the costs become too high, it is of course not possible to continue mining. Fortunately, the urban transformations take place over a long period of time and not everything needs to be paid for at once.
Amount reserved (2025)
Paid out (2025)
The urban transformations are included in the cost of goods sold. The provisions made are charged to operating profit and end up on the balance sheet as a liability. When the money is finally paid out, it appears as a payment for the urban transformations in the cash flow.
Learn more about the costs
Every year, LKAB reports the costs of the urban transformations in the annual and sustainability report.
Find the Annual and Sustainability Report hereWe want to do right by those affected
Before LKAB is granted permission to mine ore in an area, the municipalities must change the detailed plans from residential and commercial areas to industrial areas. This in turn requires that LKAB succeeds in reaching agreements with all property owners and businesses that currently stand in the way of the mine’s production. One of the most important tasks for LKAB’s community transformation organisation is therefore to purchase properties, partly from the municipality and partly from private individuals.
LKAB has so far financed several large infrastructure projects and compensated the municipalities for municipal business premises. Private property owners have also had their houses purchased by LKAB.
