After a close to nine month hiatus, the mining of ore was restarted on Monday. Processing is to be gradually ramped up. It was originally expected to restart mining operations in the summer.
According to the company, the resumption of ore production will improve overall water levels and site water management. Heaps of freshly mined ore bind water equivalent to 10-15 percent of their mass. For example, 10 million tons of fresh ore binds at least one million cubic metres of water.
In 2011, the Talvivaara mine at Sotkamo produced 11.1 million tons of ore. Last year, 8.7 million tons were produced before mining operations where shut down in September.
