LKAB plans to open an open-pit mine at Gruvberget near Svappavaara, 60km SE of Kiruna during the H1 of 2010. A maximum of two million tonnes of iron ore per year will be mined. A ruling will be made by the Environmental Court in March soon after which LKAB hopes to start production. In addition, LKAB will submit an application this year for a project to drain the Leveäniemi open pit which was closed in the mid-1980s due to a downturn in the economy. Production is expected to commence within three to five years. Yet another interesting deposit in the Svappavaara area is Mertainen. An application for test drilling will be submitted during 2010. All three mine sites are within LKAB immediate vicinity which facilitates the start up of mining operations. Infrastructure in the form roads, processing plants, transportation systems and harbors is virtually already in place. The three deposits together contain about 300 million tonnes of iron ore, with an iron content of between 40% and 55%. The deposits will be mined via open pits and the production structure will be flexible.