Mining
A long mining tradition in Sweden and Finland
Sweden and Finland have a long history of mining, which had and still has a heavy influence on the development of their economy and on their whole industrial sector. The main products are base metals, gold, industrial minerals and construction materials.
Active from the 13th century, the Falun copper mine was for many centuries the biggest in the world. In the 17th century, up to 70% of the world's copper was extracted from this single mine.
Later, huge metal deposits were discovered in the far north. In Swedish Lapland, the iron mines of Kiruna and Malmberget have been among the biggest producers of iron ore since the end of the 19th century, and since 1968 the Aitik mine in Gällivare is among the biggest European producers of copper. Finland was from 1921 operating in Petsamo the biggest nickel mine in Europe, ceded to the Soviet Union in 1947. Many other world class metallic deposits have been mined after the Second World War, like the only European chrome mine in Kemi.
The 1980's saw the development of industrial minerals mining, with Finland now being the world's 5th biggest producer of Talc and of Wollastonite, and operating the only European apatite mine.
Carbonated rock production is very important in Sweden, around 9 Mt of limestone being extracted from Swedish quarries every year, the figure being 4,4 Mt in Finland in 2007.
A surge of new investments
The rise of metal costs during the 2000's has sparked an unprecedented surge of investment in the field. Many new mines, mostly base metals and gold, have been opening in the past 5 years as mining of many well known deposits has suddenly become profitable. The biggest project led to the opening in 2008 of the new biggest European nickel mine in Talvivaara (North-Eastern Finland). There are ongoing investments that will lead to the opening of more gold mines, zinc/copper/nickel mines, and also the first European lithium mine (2010). Exploration and prospecting are also ongoing for PGM, diamonds and uranium.
Numerous opportunities for foreign providers
Both Swedish and Finnish markets offer huge opportunities for companies connected to the mining field. Despite a significant local production, the new investments have attracted a number of foreign providers. Sweden and Finland are importing all type of chemicals and materials used in mining or in metal/mineral processing, from explosives to high performance glues or lubricants. The commercial activity has been made easier by a trend towards internationalisation and deregulation, new investors opening mines in countries where large (often previously state-owned) companies, such as LKAB, Boliden and until 2002 Outokumpu , were previously the only significant players.
These countries, having both public and private world class research in the topic, are also good targets for finding research partners.
Opportunities outside the two biggest markets
Though mining does not have the same importance in other Nordic and Baltic countries, they all have some specificity likely to be of interest for some specific partners.
In Norway, and not considering oil & gas, the mining sector is increasingly oriented towards industrial minerals, being among the world's biggest producers of olivine and nepheline syenite, and also towards high value ornamental stones, the best known being Larvikite.
Though Denmark is not a traditional mining nation, it is exporting heavily carbonated rocks, sand, peat and salt towards neighbouring countries.
Estonia remains the world biggest producer of oil shale with 12 Mt /year (2007). Even though the associated industries remain active, production has been reduced by almost 2/3 since the 1980's. Peat, sand, limestone and dolomite are also important products, and are also the main focuses of mining and quarry industry in Latvia and Lithuania. The latter also has a small amber production, most the world's amber being extracted from neighbouring Kaliningrad Russian oblast.
Useful links
Sweden
Finland
Norway
Denmark
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Events
2nd-3rd June 2010:
8-10th June 2010:
Skellefteå, Sweden
24-25th November 2010:
FinnMateria 2010,
Jyväskylä, Finland