Norwegian activists call on Canadian company to stop the Nussir mine on the traditional lands of the Indigenous Sámi people
lagnorge (Latin American groups in Norway): “The fights against extractivism are connected, that’s why LAG’s Solidarity Brigade members have participated in the protest fight against Nussirgruva this week [August 28, 2025]. We have had important conversations about how we can strengthen solidarity between movements that fight against different forms of oppression and environmental destruction.” Photo: Isak Gregers Eriksen and Eri Melhus.
The Toronto Star reports on the Nussir copper mine in the Repparfjord near Hammerfest, Norway. The mine was acquired in November 2024 by Toronto-based Blue Moon Metals Inc. A first blast and initial underground construction on the mine began in June 2025.
The article highlights opposition to the mine given “plans to dump the Nussir mine’s waste in the sea, and potentially huge disruptions to reindeer herds and the livelihoods of traditional herders…”
It also notes: “In September, Blue Moon Metals announced it had negotiated financing of up to $140 million (U.S.) from Oaktree Capital Management and Hartree. The two global investment firms are subsidiaries of Brookfield Asset Management, the company chaired by [Prime Minister Mark] Carney until last January, when he launched his campaign for the Liberal party’s leadership.”
This past August, France 24 also explained: “Environmentalists and Sami reindeer herders are protesting the development of the Nussir copper mine in the Repparfjord, in the country’s far north, well above the Arctic Circle. The Sami people, who live in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, are the only recognised Indigenous people in Europe.”
Environmental destruction
The Toronto Star article further notes: “A 2012 report into the mining project by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research concluded that the mine’s operation would result in two million tonnes of waste rock, including high contents of heavy metals, being dumped into the fjord. The other issue with the Nussir mine is the threat it poses to reindeer, for whom the mine site serves as an annual calving ground, and to the livelihoods of Sami reindeer herders.”
Resistance to the mine
France 24 has reported: “A new wave of opposition emerged after Blue Moon Metals – the Canadian company that acquired the mine in 2024 – began initial construction on June 12, 2025. In response, Nature and Youth established a protest camp near the site, calling on the public to join them. Protesters chained themselves to the construction site again, leading Nussir to call for police intervention. Footage posted on social media shows officers removing the individuals from the site.”
The Toronto Star notes: “This summer, the Norwegian environmental group Nature and Youth set up a permanent camp about two kilometres from the mine site to protest the project.”
And this past September, NRK reported: “Right now, there are about eight people in the protest camp at Repparfjorden, according to [Helene Sofie] Smit [a central board member of Nature and Youth], who expects more.”
For more on this on Instagram, go to reddrepparfjord (Save Repparfjord – updates from the protests against the Nussir mine in Norway), naturogungdom (Nature and Youth – “Working to preserve nature and stop climate change! Norway’s largest environmental organization for youth”) and lagnorge (“Latin American groups in Norway”).
We continue to follow this.
Photo: October 5, 2025.
Video still: September 20, 2025.
Photo: September 17, 2025.
Photo: August 28, 2025.
Photo: July 30, 2025.
