Increases estimate for Lapland nickel reserve
First Quantum says its mine near Sodankylä contains 50 percent more nickel and copper ore than previously estimated. Reindeer herders are concerned about their future.
The mining company expects to start commercial production at its Kevitsa mine in Finnish Lapland in 2012. In a statement, First Quantum says the estimated reserve now is 240 million tons. More drilling has been made in the area and the results revealed more exploitable deposits.
Read also: Nickel and copper mine to open in Northern Finland
With the new estimates of resources, the company believes the mine life to be more than 30 years. An environmental-impact study is now in process, aiming at a getting a new environmental permit by the Finnish authorities.
In addition, an application has been made to expand the current Mining Lease to accommodate the further infrastructure that may be required, the company reports.
The significant growth of the Kevitsa ore reserve means that at the currently planned processing rate of five million tons annually, the mine life would be extended to over thirty years. Taken together with the potential for further resources to be recovered, the company is currently scoping opportunities to scale up production to 7.5-10 million tons annually.
The mine will employ nearly 300 people.
The deposit is one of the world’s major undeveloped sulphide nickel deposits and one of the largest mineral discoveries in Finland’s history.
The increase in mining in Finnish Lapland might trigger conflicts with local reindeer herders reports Helsinki Sanomat.
Interviewed by the newspaper, reindeer herder Pasi Salmi expresses his concerns.
- Every night I wonder whether reindeer herding has any future. The counterforce is so big that one could get depressed. Some good lichen areas were already lost under the Kevitsa mine, Salmi says.
