Climate ministry preparing guidelines for future phosphorite mining
The Ministry of Climate is drawing up guidelines that lay out conditions for mining and refining phosphorite in Estonia in the future. A draft will be completed by the summer, the minister said.
"It is at the drafting stage, with officials putting it together. I hope that in the summer we will get to the stage where we can debate it with the public. It could go to Riigikogu in the autumn. It could be debated in Riigikogu in either the autumn or spring season," said Minister of Climate Kristen Michal (Reform).
He said the purpose of the document is to agree on public control over the use of assets.
One goal must be that phosphorite is locally refined, Michal said.
"In my view, as a matter of common sense, there is no other way at all to operate with assets that are of value to ourselves /.../ My message to all kinds of business, including forestry, is that that value remains on the ground," the minister said.
The same is true for phosphate reserves, Michal added. If they are usable, if the research confirms it, then of course the refining, the research, the development must stay in Estonia, he said.
"These benefits and the value added must remain on the ground, because Estonia's future cannot lie in cutting down trees or digging holes," said Michal.
Phosphorite research is currently underway in Estonia under the leadership of the National Geological Survey. The results will be known by the end of 2025.
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Editor: Helen Wright
