"This is a very solid and large ore find and the economic value of this weighs more than the local reindeer herding business," he told AFP as the protests raged late last year.
"But (reindeer herding) has important cultural value, and we are absolutely convinced that we can get on with this together."
According to advocates for the mine, the Kallak project would bring some 500 jobs for at least 14 years to Jokkmokk, a town numbering only 5,000 citizens.
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