Tove, tell us about your background and your responsibilities as Head of Enrichment at Viscaria.
I have a background from LKAB. I started as a mechanic and my last position was plant manager of their two largest processing plants. I knew working with Viscaria would be a fun challenge, so I jumped at the opportunity.
My team and I are responsible for the construction of Viscaria’s processing plant. We are responsible for making the design of the plant from construction to commissioning and operations. There is a lot of work to be done, but we have been working on this for some time and are on track.
What brought you to Viscaria?
It was the first meeting with Anna Tyni and Jörgen Olsson that got me intrigued. They talked about company culture in a way that really matched my own values. At first it sounded too good to be true. I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see for myself.
Also, how can you say no to the opportunity to open a mine in your own backyard. Building our own plant with all the fun challenges is a big motivator for me. I get chills just talking about how amazing it is to be able to make this journey.
Viscaria now has its environmental permit, which are the next steps for you?
On the processing team, we are on track with our eyes on the end goal. We are focused on developing a process that is giving us the best bang for the buck. For us, it is helpful that we made good choices on our environmental side to allow the project to advance. My team continues to push forward.
Could you elaborate on the key steps to setting up the plant?
We are doing a lot of process testing and, in the fall, we will run our pilot plant. Engineering is up and running on all disciplines and we are soon ramping up to detailed engineering. We are working hard to prepare so we can start construction as soon as possible. There is a lot of organizaiton that needs to happen, and it is critical for us to get the right people into the project. Having the right team in place with the right set of skills and attitude is very important for us to pull this off.
How does Viscaria approach the enrichment process from a sustainability standpoint?
When we know what we are processing we will make sure we have the right set-up in terms of the recipe with energy and chemical consumption to help ensure we are running as efficiently as possible. That’s important for us. We want to know as much as possible before the start. The team has been working on this enrichment process plan for a long time and we remain on track.