New videos on the Reindeer Portal - Maret Sara on mining in Finnmark, Vladimir Etylin on reindeer husbandry in Chukotka.

Welcome to the Reindeer portal

Written by Philip Burgess

Thursday, 20 December 2007 01:00

We have added two new videos to the Reindeer Portal video archive. First is Maret Sara, a Sami woman from Karasjok, Finnmark who works for the Reindeer Husbandry Administration and is from a reindeer herding background. Since the passing of the Finnmark Act, an enormous number of mining claims have been made in Finnmark, to the consternation of reindeer herders who are already worried about the shortage of quality winter pastures in the region.

Recent elections saw the return of the previous Mayor, who in the past has been in favour of welcoming mining to the region. The mutingliste (mining claim list) for Finnmark alone, runs to some 91 pages, with an enormous of claims in the region of Karasjok and Kautokeino, the heart of the Sami reindeer husbandry area. Store Norske Gull AS has made the largest number of claims (Ni, Cu, Au, PGE), other companies include the giant mining company Anglo American Exploration (Ni, Cu, Pt, Pd, Au), Terra Control AS (Cu, Au), All Star Minerals PLC (Th, U), IGE Nordic AB (Cu, Au) Nordic Mining ASA (REE, U) and Scanur AS (Au, Cu, Pb, Zn),

The second video interview is with Vladimir Etylin, ICR board member from Chukotka (which is some 6000 km NE of Moscow) who was born on the tundra in a reindeer herding family, is trained as a scientist, held the post of Vice Governor of Chukotka, and is a member of the International Whaling Committee. He discusses the challenges facing reindeer husbandry today after the disastrous years of the 1990's when the number of reindeer fell by nearly 400,000. The mining industry, most particularly for gold, is an industry that may well become a challenge for reindeer husbandry in the future as the region is estimated to hold at least 10 pct of Russia's total gold reserves, according to the regional authorities. The Chukotka administration plans to increase gold output from about five tonnes annually at present to between 15 and 20 tonnes by 2010.