Finnish Minerals Group takes over Sokli mine

The Finnish Minerals Group (Suomen Malmijalostus Oy) has acquired the rights to the Sokli Mining Project from Yara Suomi Oy, said a press release.

The project is located in the municipality of Savukoski, in Northern Finland. The arrangement is based on Yara’s decision to cease advancing the project on the basis of an overall strategic assessment conducted by the company.

The parties have agreed on the transfer of all technical and economic assessments, geological models and rights related to the project to Finnish Minerals Group, as well as certain land areas connected to the deal.

In addition, Finnish Minerals will continue the ongoing execution of the mining concession to change the Sokli mining concession. The environmental permit for the Sokli mine is currently under review by the Supreme Administrative Court.

“This arrangement will allow a domestic actor to utilise the studies concerning the Sokli Mine, instead of possibly having the mining rights end up with a third party. Our next goal is to analyse the development potential of the project, after which we will be able to make a final decision regarding Sokli’s future,” said Finnish Minerals Group CEO Matti Hietanen.

“Yara has invested in the Sokli project and the related research, permit and assessment processes. Although Yara will now withdraw from Sokli, we are pleased that Finnish Minerals Group will continue developing the project. This way, our extensive efforts will still be able to benefit Finland as a whole,” said Yara Finland Managing Director Tommi Hevonoja.

The Sokli phosphate reserve was discovered in 1967 and has been studied ever since. Over the years, the project has had several owners. Yara Suomi Oy became the owner of the project in 2007, after which the company initiated the assessment and permit processes that were necessary for eventually opening the mine. After the ongoing execution of Sokli’s mining concession is finalised, the new mining concession will be approximately 5,900 hectares in size.

In 2018, Sokli was granted an environmental permit that is currently under review by the Supreme Administrative Court. The permit concerns the annual excavation of 10 million tonnes of phosphorus and iron ore, the excavation of any resulting waste rock, and all activities related to these excavation operations. The phosphorus contained in phosphate is an important raw material for agricultural fertilisers and is also used as a raw material by the battery industry. The environmental permit does not encompass the recovery of any radioactive minerals.

The opening of the mine is estimated to represent an investment of around EUR 1 billion in total.