Canadian firm acquires bankrupt Lapland gold mine

The Pahtavaara gold mine in 2009. (Matti Torvinen/Yle)
The Pahtavaara gold mine in 2009. (Matti Torvinen/Yle)
The Canadian gold exploration company Rupert Resources has acquired the bankrupt Pahtavaara gold mine in the Lapland municipality of Sodankylä.

The firm has a six-month option agreement that will allow it to withdraw from the project if things don’t go according to plan.

Canadian mining company Rupert Resources Ltd has signed an agreement to acquire the bankrupt Pahtavaara gold mine in Sodankylä, Lapland for a sum of 2.5 million dollars.

The mine’s previous Swedish owners, Lappland Goldminers, declared bankruptcy in 2014 and the mine has been closed down ever since.

Mikko Tiilikka, representative of the Pahtavaara bankruptcy estate, says the mine will resume prospecting in the coming months. If the Canadian firm does not opt out of the project in the first half-year, the mining permit will then transfer from the estate to the new owners.

Founded in 1995, the Pahtavaara mine is located in the Central Lapland gold belt and has been in production for 15 out of the last 20 years. The mine was originally an open pit operation, but then transferred to a ramp underground system. Mill capacity is listed at over 1,000 tonnes of ore a day.

The gold deposit was discovered by the Geological Survey of Finland in 1985. Estimates estimate that the mine may hold more than 10,000 kilograms of gold.

The deal was first reported in the Lapland newspaper Lapin Kansa.

Related stories from around the North:

Canada:  Canadian province of Quebec announces plan for northern development, Eye on the Arctic

Finland: Finland to save Talvivaara mining operations, Yle News

Greenland: Greenland pioneers Arctic tourism & mining, Cryopolitics Blog

Norway: Production uncertain beyond Q2 at iron-ore mine in Arctic Norway, Barents Observer

Sweden: Relocation of Arctic town underway in Sweden, Radio Sweden

Russia:  Mining accident death toll rises to 36, The Independent Barents Observer

United States:  Alaska – Judge temporarily halts EPA process on Pebble Mine, Alaska Dispatch

 

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