Latitude 66 clears final appeal hurdle for Finland gold-cobalt project

KSB permits become legally final

Latitude 66 Limited (ASX:LAT) has cleared the last appeal hurdle over its KSB gold-cobalt project in northern Finland, with four exploration permits now legally final. No application for leave to appeal was lodged with Finland’s Supreme Administrative Court by the 2 November 2026 deadline.

“KSB Project area showing existing and new granted Exploration Permits.”

The Finnish Mining Authority granted the permits on 22 July after the company’s previous mining concessions had been replaced. An appeal was subsequently dismissed by the Northern Finland Administrative Court on 25 September. The permits cover the K1, K2 and K3 resource areas and, importantly, give Latitude exploration and development rights together with a priority right to apply for a mining permit over the project.

Regulatory certainty arrives as exploration expands

The final status removes the immediate appeal uncertainty around tenure while Latitude continues its work on the project. The company had previously reported that a 2,500-metre KSB drilling program was under way, targeting extensions to the K1 resource.

Managing Director Grant Coyle said the permits provided “greater certainty” and a foundation for continued exploration and study work. He also pointed to the speed of the Finnish appeals process, although the announcement does not alter the separate permitting steps that would be required before any mine could be developed.

Resource and study numbers set the project’s scale

“Location map of KSB Project”

The KSB Project’s combined Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate stands at 7.3 million tonnes grading 2.7 grams per tonne gold, containing 650,000 ounces of gold and 5,840 tonnes of cobalt. More than 85% of the resource is in the Indicated category, according to the company’s statement.

Those figures sit behind a September KSB scoping study that outlined a potential 7.5-year standalone operation producing 65,000 ounces of gold and 475 tonnes of cobalt a year. At a gold price of US$3,500 an ounce, the 2026 Study estimated a post-tax NPV8 of about US$485 million, an 85% post-tax IRR, all-in sustaining costs of US$1,283 an ounce and capital expenditure of approximately US$130 million.

Mining permit and funding remain separate hurdles

The study numbers are preliminary economic estimates, not operating results or a feasibility decision. Latitude still needs to advance further studies, exploration and the mining-permit process, while the project’s eventual funding requirements are not addressed by the permit decision itself.

The immediate catalyst is therefore administrative rather than production-related: the company now has secure exploration tenure and a clearer route to seek mining approval. The next test will be whether drilling and technical work can convert that regulatory certainty into a mineable, financeable development case.