public lse talv nasdaq helsinki tlv1v industry mining founded 2004 headquarters espoo finland key people tapani j rvinen chairman 1 pekka per ceo 1 products nickel and zinc mining revenue 231.2 million 2011 2 operating income 30.9 million 2011 2 net income 5.2 million 2011 2 website www.talvivaara.com talvivaara mining company plc finnish talvivaaran kaivososakeyhti oyj is a finnish based nickel mining business operating in finland . formerly listed on the london and helsinki stock exchanges the company was a constituent of the omxh25 index . its mining business talvivaara sotkamo went bankrupt in november 2014 and it is bound for liquidation with at least 98 % of equity lost and 1.4 million debt outstanding . the mine had suffered several leaks of toxic metal contaminated tailings which had threatened local waterways . members of the management have been charged with criminal environmental offenses . there has been considerable government involvement with the government of finland being the largest single owner through their investment company solidium . in 2015 the newly established government owned corporation terrafame oy bought the mining business of talvivaara . 3 in 2016 the government announced that mining will cease and the mine will undergo controlled shutdown . 4 contents 1 history 2 government involvement 2.1 finnish state ownership 3 financials 4 operations 5 environmental impacts 5.1 sulfate emissions 5.2 gypsum pond leak 5.2.1 leak and company response 5.2.1.1 leaking resumes in april 2013 5.2.2 government response 5.2.3 public response 6 safety at work 7 public relations 8 talvivaara activism 9 references 10 external links history edit iron nickel sulfide bearing black schist ore samples from talvivaara . the deposits kuusilampi and kolmisoppi were originally discovered in 1977 by the geological survey of finland gtk . although the deposit was large it was considered too poor for existing technology . only bioheap leaching could concentrate the nickel enough but the technology was still untested . the mining rights were eventually obtained by outokumpu corporation which sold them at a nominal price of two euros to a former employee pekka per . the talvivaara mining company was established in 2004 when it acquired the rights to mine sites at sotkamo in eastern finland from outokumpu . in 2006 a metals recovery trial was completed and the necessary financing was secured . 5 per proceeded to list the company on the london stock exchange in 2007 and later on the helsinki stock exchange in 2009 . 6 the firm was delisted from the london stock exchange in 2014 this was to reduce costs according to information on their website . 7 the appropriate permits to commence mining were obtained in 2007 and metals production started late in 2008 . 8 the construction of the mine cost 560 million euros in 2007 2008 and an additional 22 million from hex in 2009 enabled investments that increased production by 45 % . 9 in 2010 the company announced the commencement of uranium production as a by product from its normal mining operations in sotkamo . the uranium produced will be in the form of yellowcake with an estimated annual production of approximately 350 tons . at a yellowcake price of 40 lb the uranium production could result in an additional 20m annual revenue . the capital investment costs were 30m and estimated annual production costs are 2m . 10 the resulting uranium production is estimated to meet 80 % of finland s annual uranium demand although reprocessing and enrichment would be required to be conducted abroad and would effectively double the production of uranium in the eu . 11 currently the uranium is deposited into the gypsum pond . government involvement edit the government of finland owns 8.89 % of talvivaara and additionally the pension funds ilmarinen varma and keva the public sector pension fund own stock . the minister of economic affairs is responsible for management of the stock . the previous minister jyri h k mies ncp resigned in 2012 and was appointed as the new ceo of confederation of finnish industries . 12 the government supported the mine project by building 60 million euros worth of infrastructure . 13 in the talvivaara startup were present three ministers of centre party of finland minister of environment paula lehtom ki 2007 2011 minister of trade and industry mauri pekkarinen and prime minister matti vanhanen . 14 the family of paula lehtom ki mother husband and two underaged children acquired talvivaara stock a few weeks before the announcement of uranium production plans . minister lehtom ki s husband owned 270 000 worth of talvivaara stock . 15 the director of the kainuu environmental office was appointed by minister lehtom ki in 2007 . 14 finnish state ownership edit solidium is 100 % finnish state owned unit that controls 11 state owned stock companies . according to solidium in november 2012 the state ownership in talvivaara was 8 9 % with value of 31 million . 16 in april 2013 state invested 47 million more . the state ownership is 16.7 % with value of 60 million . finnish state has no members in the talvivaara board of directors . 17 financials edit norilsk nickel the world s leading producer of nickel has made a 10 year contract with talvivaara mining company to purchase the latter s entire output of the nickel and cobalt production at market prices . 18 the company has suffered poor profitability . in november 2013 metals recovery operations were ceased and negotiations on a 40 million public offering were terminated as inconclusive . a corporate reorganization claim was filed in the espoo district court . 19 the company is deeply in debt to nyrstar nordea bank svenska handelsbanken danske bank varma cameco finnvera the official export credit agency and a variety of equipment suppliers and other companies . 20 nyrstar continued to fund talvivaara with a 20 million loan which was strictly conditional on zinc ore deliveries . 21 the official receiver tried to negotiate a financing method for the reorganization 22 and published the proposal for a company voluntary arrangement at the end of september 2014 . according to the report the mining business in sotkamo was viable and could be made profitable . unfortunately the debt restructuring in the plan required a 97 99 % cancellation of the debt essentially diluting the original stock nearly out of existence and required 100 million of new funding . 23 24 however this new funding could not be secured and talvivaara sotkamo filed for bankruptcy on november 6 2014 and trading of the shares of the parent company talvivaara oyj was stopped in the helsinki stock exchange . 24 authorities estimate that the cost of needed environmental measures is 100 million with present capacity . if the company does not take action the government will regardless of the consent of the company . 25 26 27 operations edit talvivaara mine aerial photograph of talvivaara mine in sotkamo finland . june 2013 . location location sotkamo country finland production products nickel copper zinc cobalt owner company talvivaara mining company the talvivaara mine is one of the largest nickel mines in finland . 28 the mine is located in sotkamo in eastern finland and employs 400 people . 29 it is an open pit mine 22 km from sotkamo and 28 km from kajaani . the mine consists of two deposits 3 km apart kuusilampi and kolmisoppi 30 and has an annual production capacity of over 10 million tonnes of ore . the mine has reserves amounting to 1 billion tonnes of ore grading 0.22 % nickel 0.13 % copper 0.5 % zinc and 0.02 % cobalt thus resulting 2.2 million tonnes of nickel 1.3 million tonnes of copper 5 million tonnes of zinc and 0.2 million tonnes of cobalt . 28 90 % of the nickel is deposited in black schist rock which contains 31 % sulfides most of which consist of iron sulfide minerals . nickel bearing sulfide minerals pentlandite altered pentlandite and pyrrhotite are present in low concentrations but are accessible by bioheap leaching . 31 the metals are extracted by bioheap leaching a method where natural bacteria living in the rock accelerate metal leaching by oxidation . in conventional leaching a coat of porous sulfide rock is left behind on the shrinking core of nickel in the grain . in contrast in bioheap leaching the oxidation of sulfides causes eventual disintegration of the porous rock exposing more area than achievable by chemical means only . the ground ore is built into heaps 1.2 km long and 400 m wide and a recycling irrigation system is used to keep the grains wet . the heat produced by the bacterial oxidation keeps the heap warm throughout the year . extraction is done twice in primary and secondary heaps . 31 in a pilot heap over 90 % of nickel and 80 % of zinc was recovered within 500 days of leaching . cobalt and copper recoveries were lower 14 % and 2 % respectively . 31 the resulting green colored solution is then refined to the metals . 32 33 treatment with hydrogen sulfide precipitates copper sulfide then zinc sulfide and finally nickel cobalt sulfide . 31 in 2011 cameco signed an agreement with talvivaara where cameco would pay us 60 million to construct a uranium extraction circuit at the mine in sotkamo . talvivaara would then pay back the initial construction costs in the form of uranium concentrate ; once the initial costs are paid cameco would continue to purchase the uranium concentrate at a pricing formula based on market price on the day of delivery . 34 a railway track was built in order to transport the nickel cobalt concentrate to a norilsk nickel smeltery in harjavalta finland . environmental impacts edit see also environmental issues in finland prosecutors were considering case against talvivaara mining in january 2014 . 35 talvivaara had received seven penalty payments on waste water management in june 2014 . none of the penalty payments had been convicted to charge yet . 36 sulfate emissions edit the operation has caused controversy because of its environmental impacts . sulfate concentration in the effluent 8000 mg m3 has exceeded the permitted levels 130 mg m3 causing severe pollution in the water course . 37 insufficient mixing caused the formation of an artificial halocline in a lake where effluent was discharged which led to the lake bottom becoming anoxic . 38 reduction of sulfate into hydrogen sulfide by bacteria caused odour problems . also dust emissions were reported but the prosecutor declined to press charges after a police investigation was completed . 39 40 meps sirpa pietik inen and satu hassi initiated an european commission investigation in june 2012 into talvivaara s compliance with eu directives on mining waste . 41 both said that environmental officials have not efficiently taken issue with the violations and have thereby violated finland s eu obligations . 42 minister of the environment ville niinist indicated that the state may intervene the operations unless the environmental impacts are brought under control . 43 44 the government of finland responded in october 2012 with the conclusion that the local state authority the kainuu ely centre has adequately monitored talvivaara s operations . 45 gypsum pond leak edit gypsum pond in june 2013 . in november 2012 there was a major leak from the gypsum waste pond which is contaminated with nickel uranium and other toxic metals . 46 finland s environment minister visited the site after calling it a serious environmental crime . the mining firm posted a 4.3 million euro loss in the third quarter of 2012 blaming weak output and low nickel prices . on the same day finland s largest newspaper helsingin sanomat published an editorial column that labeled the company a large scale failure that casts a shadow on the efficiency of the finnish society as a whole criticizing finnish officials for not taking administrative action