While the Nordics are not known as a resource rich region, one company is busy undertaking exploration work.
Beowulf Mining is a junior miner with assets in both Sweden and Finland, with the jewel of its crown being the Kallak North iron ore deposit in Sweden.
Listed on both the AIM market and Sweden’s Aktietorget (like London’s AIM, the Aktietorget is aimed at smaller businesses), Beowulf Mining has been in action for over ten years.
In 2014 the company saw a corporate reshuffle in which ex Rio Tinto exec Kurt Budge took over as CEO. He is joined on the board by chairman Bevan Metcalf, the former finance director of Afferro Mining.
While the natural resources sector in the Nordics is of course dominated by the activities of petro super giant Norway, Sweden is home to hefty resources of iron ore, copper, gold, lead, silver and zinc, amongst other resources.
Similarly Finland has impressive resources of copper, lead and zinc in addition to its large timber industry used to help supply the world with its paper and packaging needs.
Its Kallak project was discovered in the 1940s and three years ago was designated an “Area of National Interest” for minerals. In September Beowulf announced that a revision of its boundary covering Kallak had taken place,
Its other key Swedish asset is its Atvidaberg license. This is a three year license granted this May where the company is currently carrying out exploration work.
Meanwhile in Finland the company has a number of exploration projects hunting for graphite. Graphite consumption has increased in the last few years as it is a key component in the manufacture of lithium ion batteries as well as in laptops, mobile phones and tablet computers.
Beowulf is a junior miner and one of the few listed companies with direct exposure to grapite projects. Graphite is likely to be a key commodity as demand for electric cars drives a burgeoning interest in lithium ion batteries, with companies such as BMW, Tesla and Nissan all producing popular electric vehicles.
While the Nordics has a tiny mining sector when compared to nations such as Australia or Canada, its natural resources remain a key source of employment and wealth for many in the region.