This article is based on the interview with CEO Garrett Ainsworth This is a paid/sponsored content!
By the time Sweden’s parliament voted to lift the country’s uranium mining ban, the decision had been decades in the making—and only a few companies were truly positioned to act. Among them is District Metals, led by CEO Garrett Ainsworth, a geologist whose career has been shaped by some of the most important uranium discoveries of the modern era.
In a wide-ranging interview, Ainsworth outlined not just the story of District Metals, but also the broader transformation underway in Sweden, Europe, and the global uranium market. At its core, the discussion revealed how geology, politics, energy security, and social license intersect in one of the most strategically important mineral jurisdictions now opening to uranium development.
This is the story of how Sweden’s uranium ban fell, why the Viken deposit matters far beyond Scandinavia, and how District Metals plans to navigate opportunity and risk in a changing world.
Garrett Ainsworth’s reputation in uranium exploration was established long before Sweden entered the conversation. Early in his career, he worked as a uranium geologist in Canada’s Athabasca Basin, widely regarded as the highest-grade uranium district on Earth.
As Vice President of Exploration at Alpha Minerals, Ainsworth played a central role in the discovery of the Triple R deposit, one of the basin’s most important finds. The project ultimately led to Alpha being acquired by Fission Uranium in a transaction valued at approximately CAD $189 million.
He later joined NexGen Energy, where he led exploration and development efforts that helped define the Arrow deposit, another globally significant uranium discovery. Along the way, Ainsworth earned industry recognition for his technical leadership and exploration success.
Yet by 2018, the uranium market had cooled, and Ainsworth was ready for a different challenge.
Rather than returning to the Athabasca Basin, he acquired District Metals as a shell company backed by experienced shareholders and began searching globally for projects that combined scale, geological upside, and strategic relevance. That search led him—not back to Canada—but to Sweden.
District Metals initially entered Sweden in 2020 with a focus on polymetallic base metals, not uranium. The flagship project at the time, Tomtebo, targeted zinc, copper, lead, and silver mineralization. The company assembled a local team, expanded its land position, and achieved early drilling success.
At the time, uranium was legally off-limits. Sweden had banned uranium mining in 2018, and political sentiment remained uncertain.
But beneath Sweden’s forests and farmland lay something extraordinary: alum shale formations—organic-rich black shales that host uranium alongside vanadium, molybdenum, nickel, zinc, and potash. Among them was the Viken deposit, long recognized as the largest undeveloped uranium resource in the world by contained metal.
Everything changed in 2022.
The Swedish government announced a pro-nuclear policy shift, citing energy security, decarbonization goals, and geopolitical realities. Nuclear power was back on the agenda—and with it, domestic uranium supply.
For Ainsworth, uranium “hooked him back in.”
In November 2025, Sweden’s parliament approved legislation to lift the uranium mining ban, with the change set to take legal effect on January 1, 2026. Uranium would once again become a concession mineral, aligning it with other mineable commodities under Sweden’s Minerals Act.
The market’s immediate reaction surprised some investors. Rather than a euphoric rally, the announcement triggered what Ainsworth described as a “sell-the-news” event.
Many shareholders had waited years for the decision. Their exit created room for a new investor base—one focused less on speculation and more on execution.
Internally, however, District Metals viewed the moment differently.
“We waited a long time for this, we prepared for it, and now it’s finally come to fruition,” Ainsworth said.
For the first time in decades, Sweden offered a clear, predictable regulatory pathway for uranium exploration and development.
The Viken deposit is not Athabasca. Its uranium grades are lower, but its scale is immense, and its geological simplicity sets it apart.
Viken is hosted in alum shale—a laterally extensive, shallow-lying formation that can be amenable to large-scale, low-cost mining. Crucially, the mineralization sits close to surface, which reduces strip ratios and operating costs in a potential open-pit scenario.
What truly differentiates Viken, however, is its polymetallic nature.
In addition to uranium, the deposit contains:
Vanadium, which Ainsworth notes may represent the largest share of economic value
Potash, with potential to produce sulfate of potash for agriculture
Molybdenum, nickel, copper, zinc, and potential rare earth elements
“The value of the rock isn’t just uranium,” Ainsworth explained. “There are many other important and critical raw materials within the Viken deposit.”
This combination positions Viken not merely as a uranium project, but as a strategic critical-minerals asset for Sweden, the EU, and Western supply chains.
One of District Metals’ key technical advantages lies in its use of Mobile MT (magnetotelluric) surveys, which help define the depth and thickness of alum shale horizons. This data allows the company to prioritize areas where the shale is both thick and shallow—ideal characteristics for efficient mining.
Ainsworth emphasized that simplicity matters.
“You want it shallow, you want it thick,” he said. “The simplicity of mining reduces your operating costs.”
The company is not pursuing in-situ recovery (ISR). Alum shale is not permeable enough for leaching, and ISR would prevent recovery of valuable by-products like vanadium and potash. Instead, District Metals envisions a modern, low-impact open-pit operation, potentially reclaiming one side of the pit as mining advances.
While Viken remains the flagship, District Metals has also assembled a portfolio of higher-grade uranium targets elsewhere in Sweden. Projects such as Ardnäsvara host unconformity-style targets analogous to Athabasca Basin deposits.
These areas contain glacially transported uranium boulders with grades reported as high as 28% U₃O₈, a level typically associated with Canada’s richest uranium mines.
Using drone-based radiometric and magnetic surveys, District Metals has identified boulder trails that point back toward potential bedrock sources—targets that, remarkably, have never been drilled.
“These are the kinds of grades you’d see in the Athabasca Basin,” Ainsworth noted, adding that while Viken remains the priority, these projects add “a bit of spice” to the portfolio.
With uranium now reclassified as a concession mineral, District Metals faces a permitting environment that is demanding—but predictable.
Importantly, the reclassification does not loosen environmental standards. Sweden’s regulations remain among the strictest in the world. What changes is legal certainty.
“The structural barrier has been removed,” Ainsworth said. “It’s replaced with a known and consistent permitting pathway.”
Concerns about a potential policy reversal remain, particularly given the narrow parliamentary vote. However, Ainsworth pointed out that even opposition parties have expressed support for uranium as a by-product, which is precisely how uranium occurs at Viken.
From an investor perspective, policy flip-flopping would damage Sweden’s credibility as a mining jurisdiction—something no government is eager to risk.
If permitting is a technical challenge, social license is a human one.
The Viken area lies in Jämtland, one of Sweden’s poorer counties, with limited industry and employment opportunities. While some residents are supportive of mining, others remain deeply skeptical—shaped in part by past proposals that were perceived as too large, too intrusive, and poorly communicated.
District Metals is approaching this differently.
The company has launched a dedicated Swedish-language website for its local subsidiary, providing transparent information, FAQs, and direct communication channels. It has engaged landowners during survey work and plans to hire a local community representative.
Ainsworth stressed that fear often stems from a lack of information.
“When you don’t have information, things become scary,” he said.
The company is also exploring impact benefit agreements (IBAs)—a framework commonly used in Canada that can include royalties, local hiring commitments, infrastructure investment, and environmental guarantees.
For Ainsworth, trust will be earned through transparency, engagement, and exceeding environmental best practices.
Sweden plans to build up to 10 new nuclear reactors by 2045, a move that dramatically increases the importance of domestic fuel supply. But Viken’s relevance extends well beyond Sweden’s borders.
Europe currently relies heavily on uranium, potash, and fertilizer imports from geopolitically sensitive regions. A domestic source of uranium and sulfate of potash in Northern Europe could materially enhance supply security.
“This story is much larger than just Sweden,” Ainsworth said.
Utilities and strategic players are already paying attention. While discussions remain preliminary and confidential, interest from European and Western stakeholders is clearly emerging.
District Metals does not plan to joint venture or option the Viken project. According to Ainsworth, the asset is capable of being advanced internally through feasibility studies.
A monetization event—a sale or strategic transaction—remains possible, but not guaranteed. Ainsworth is candid with shareholders about this uncertainty, drawing on lessons from previous cycles.
“You can never guarantee a strategic exit,” he said. “Our focus is to do the best exploration and development work, and keep our head down.”
If Viken ultimately reaches feasibility without a transaction, Ainsworth envisions a transition to a mine-building leadership team—underscoring a disciplined, long-term approach rather than empire-building.
The coming year will be pivotal.
District Metals plans to:
Release detailed 2026 exploration plans
Begin permitting for drilling
Conduct significant drilling at Viken and selected alum shale targets
Advance a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA)
Continue airborne and ground surveys across its expanded land package
Strengthen its technical and management team
“It’s going to be a really, really busy year,” Ainsworth said.
For investors, Sweden’s uranium reawakening is no longer theoretical. The legal framework is in place. The geology is understood. The strategic need is growing.
Whether Viken becomes a cornerstone of Europe’s critical-minerals future will depend not just on metal prices, but on execution, trust, and time.
District Metals, after years of preparation, is finally stepping onto an open field.
WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE:
Sign up to our free monthly newsletter to recieve the latest on our interviews and articles.
By subscribing you agree to receive our newest articles and interviews and agree with our Privacy Policy.
You may unsubscribe at any time.
