OCTOBER 2017 • E&MJ; 39 www.e-mj.com
NORDIC MINING 2017
with the company achieving a significant
reduction in the volume of water held on-
site during the year.
In February, the state holding in Ter-
rafame was effectively reduced by 15.5%
under a €250 million funding agreement
with Trafigura and its private investment
arm, Galena Private Equity Resources
Fund. The agreement also committed
Trafigura to buy all of the mine's nickel
production and 80% of its zinc output
for the next seven years. Capex needed to
complete the reconstruction of the opera-
tion is estimated at €150-200 million.
During the first half of 2017, nickel
production already exceeded the total
production volume of 2016, Terrafame
has reported. The two-stage bioheap
leaching process used for metal ex-
traction involves around 15 months of
primary leaching, followed by reclaiming
and restacking on the secondary heaps.
Agnico Eagle's Kittila gold mine in
northern Finland produced 202,500
oz from 1.6 million mt of ore in 2016,
with the company predicting production
at similar levels for the next three years.
The cash production cost was $699/oz.
Agnico Eagle is now studying the poten-
tial for expansion to 2 million mt/y, with
a $7.9 million exploration budget for
2017 that is aimed at expanding the
mineral resources in the Northern part of
the property and demonstrating the eco-
nomic potential of the Sisar zone. Kittila
is the largest primary gold producer in
Since taking over the Sotkamo mine and recovery plant in 2015, Terrafame has been re-engineering the operation
with the aim of treating 18 million mt/y of ore. Work carried out in 2016 included the construction of secondary
leaching pads. (Photo: Terrafame)