Boliden granted operating permit for the Hötjärn tailings pond

Boliden granted operating permit for the Hötjärn tailings pond

The Environmental Court in Umeå has provided Boliden with the conditions for
operating and reclaiming the Hötjärn tailings pond. The Environmental Court has
prior to this granted Boliden's application to build the tailings pond adjacent
to the company's mines and concentrator in the Boliden Area. 

“We're obviously delighted that this matter has finally been resolved, and that
the Boliden Board of Directors now can review this investment. Our ambition is
to have the new tailings pond in operation by the spring of  2010,” says Jan
Moström, President of Business Area Mines at Boliden. 

The Environmental Court approved Boliden's proposals concerning emission levels,
methods of reclamation and level of financial guarantee. The later being set to
an amount of 37 million SEK. 

The consequences of this ruling being delayed do, however, remain. Boliden is
planning to restrict production at the concentrator to just one section, i.e.
halving production, as of Q2 2008. This measure, coupled with the amended mining
plan in the Boliden Area, means metal production levels of zinc and copper in
2008 will be cut by 45 and 38 percent, respectively, compared with today. The
corresponding Group figures are 9 and 8 per cent, respectively. 

For further information, please contact:
Eva Kaijser, Senior Vice President - Investor Relations and Group
Communications, Boliden AB, tel. +46 8 610 15 60, +46 70 932 09 01

Jan Moström, President - Business Area Mines, Boldien AB tel. +46 910 77 42 10,
+46 70 673 52 99

Boliden is one of the leading mining and smelting companies in Europe with
operations in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Ireland. Boliden's main products are
copper, zinc, lead and gold and silver. Exploration and recycling of metals are
also important within the company. The number of employees is approximately 4
500 and the turnover amounts to approximately EUR 3.8 billion annually. Its
shares are listed on Stockholmsbörsen's Large Cap list and on the Toronto Stock
Exchange in Canada.
www.boliden.com