Databank

Answer:

Evaporation was one alternative when the execution of water treatment process was pondered. However, we had to give up on this alternative due to its impracticality and the considerable amount of energy needed for it. The annual average temperature in Hannukainen area is low and the winters are long, which increases the amount of energy needed for evaporation. The quantity of mining waste water in Hannukainen operations varies. There are millions of cubic meters of water to dispose annually, so evaporating this much water would consume a lot of energy.

Answer:

The information that has significance for the environmental and water treatment permit is public and when it comes to the beneficiation test report, it is public information in our permit application. The latest report also includes information that has economic value for our company and is therefore concealed. Nevertheless, the report is available to the authority.

Answer:

The number of trucks in the noise analysis is ten tracks per route. We use many routes during the production. In the dust modelling we have used five mining trucks per a waste rock area.

Answer:

The dumping area is situated closest to the residents in order to be able to model the worst possible situation.

Answer:

200-300M€ is the amount estimated for the initial investments. Northland’s 1,15 billion dollars also included the projects planned to be executed in Sweden. When you exclude the quarries, enrichment and pellet plants from the total, the correct evaluation is 200 - 300 M€, which we have reported. Comparing the amounts of investments one should also understand the difference between the initial and the total investment. The initial investment is the amount needed for achieving the planned production capacity.

Answer:

The planned mine will be a multi-metal mine where iron, gold and copper will be mined. Recovery of gold and copper purifies the iron ore. This results in premium quality iron concentrate with higher iron content (Fe 68%) and low sulphur content than the basic iron concentrate (Fe 62%) in the market. Furthermore, the revenue from gold and copper ore covers about 50% of the production costs.

The ore reserve estimate is currently for approximately 20 years, when the amount of annual mining is 6-6.5 million tons. According to this estimation the production of iron ore concentrate would be approximately 2 million tons annually and the production of copper-gold concentrate approximately 40,000 tons per year. Our estimated turnover is around 220 million euros. The mine will employ 300 people and thus increases the vitality in Lapland.

Answer:

We use the newest technology in our blasting operations in order to minimize the disadvantages of noise and dust and the safety risks. In addition, the blastings are carried out at specific times, which enables the extraction of an area as large as possible with one blasting. The blasting schedule is being released accurately and it is well-established. This way we make sure that local people are aware of the blastings. There are 1 -2 of them every week during the production and they are executed in the daytime.

Answer:

The direct distance from the top of Ylläs to the mining area is approximately ten kilometers and the centre of Kolari municipality is 25 km from the mine.

Answer:

From the top of Ylläs you can see at least three mining areas but Ylläs area has nonetheless grown and developed as an outdoor destination. According to Statistics Finland the number of holiday homes has increased in Kolari. We believe that Kolari has been and continues to be a municipality of several livelihood opportunities.
From the beginning we have had cooperation with the tourism representatives and we have found the best solutions for both of us.
The railway of this area is a good example of the impact of our cooperation; it was built to serve the needs of mining industry but is nowadays being mostly used by tourists. The future improvements of this railway, possibly electrification, will also contribute to the tourism sector.

Answer:

We have paid particular attention to the water bodies during the planning and one of our priorities is a well-functioning and proper water treatment process. Äkäsjoki river with its head waters will not be affected by the water disposal.
The water treatment of Hannukainen mining area aims at finding the solutions which enable minimizing the concentrations of hazardous substances and thus having little bearing on the environment. The water treatment will be tested, piloted, studied and advanced to be sure that the dispose water from the mine is causing no damage to the environment.
The water treatment plan is based on the minimized usage of fresh water and the recycling of process waters inside the enrichment plant (clarification/ thickening). Furthermore, we will increase recycling as the water from the tailings pond is recycled into fresh water by the reverse osmosis technique. The sulphate in the concentrate flow is stabilized into a solid, permanent form by using geopolymer. This way we can minimize both the amount of water disposal into Muonionjoki river and the stress on the river.