“There are very strict environment & safety requirements in Norway.”

Reindeer calving season in Norway is just around the corner – and with that, a need to check in on the herd to ensure all is well. Roy Anders Karlsen kindly took time out from tending to his herd in the Arctic region of Nusfjord to do this interview. With his snow mobile parked up against a backdrop of frozen white plains and sapphire blue skies, Roy – CEO of Arctic Drilling – spoke to us about his company’s partnership with Norge Mineraler and how sensitivity to the environment is intrinsic to his team’s work.

Q: You are out looking after reindeer right now, so you clearly care deeply about nature and the world around you. How important is this ethos for you as CEO of a drilling company?

RAK: Any intervention with nature is always a tricky balance and one I take very seriously. Personally, I use my knowledge of reindeer herding and deep care for the environment to my professional work as CEO of Arctic Drilling. Our main focus is making sure our environmental footprint is as low as possible. My team has operated in Svalbard a lot in the past – a Norwegian archipelago between mainland Norway and the North Pole. One of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas. Here they were working alongside sheltering polar bears. So, we have experience in taking the utmost care and caution. I have a good overview of what’s right in relation to nature versus the need for development. It’s worth remembering that the footprint for resource development is much more manageable than other larger projects like wind-power. It’s about taking care of what we have to the very best of our ability and always being mindful; never acting carelessly.

Q. Arctic Drilling has been Norge Mineraler’s official drilling partner for a year now – what is your company’s unique expertise?

RAK: Arctic Drilling AS is a company that provides exploration drilling services and other special drilling projects worldwide, with most of our projects in Scandinavia. As I’ve just mentioned, a focus on the environment is critical for us, as well as safety – all supported by high competence and skill in core drilling. For us, quality and high speed also sets us apart. We mainly work in the prospecting phase of mineral exploration. We also carry out engineering drilling for the Norwegian Road Administration and similar companies that need our specialist drilling skills. For example, we are also working on an investigation into rare earth metals in Ulefoss, south-west of Oslo.

Q. Compared to working in the Arctic, your Norge Mineraler’s work should be more straight forward. How do you feel about the project and the partnership?

RAK: We have drillers who have experience from the most demanding drilling environments in the world. I’ve mentioned the polar bears, but they’ve also had to deal with permafrost given the extreme temperatures. Our work with Norge Mineraler in southwest Norway will be comparatively straightforward. The biggest challenge is that the terrain is hilly. But the winter weather is certainly warmer than we are used to! We are extremely happy to be their drilling partner. We’ve found the team to be skilled and professional every step of the way.

Q. What do you and your team think about Norge Mineraler’s resource development of EU Critical Raw Materials – phosphate, vanadium and titanium?

RAK: We understand that we are part of something big that’s important for the future. We feel privileged that our expertise can help contribute to development in this area of Norway, which is vital for future generations. We understand community concerns about any impact on the land, but if you can’t grow it, you have to mine it. If we want to electrify transport, we need materials that are only found in the earth. Mineral exploration is much more environmentally friendly today than it was in the 1960s and 1970s. There are such strict environment and safety requirements in Norway. And as Nordics, we believe that we are best placed to do it, because we respect nature, and we understand how to look after it in tandem with progress. There’s so much going on in our industry right now and we are excited to be a part of it.