Aiming to produce Responsible and Traceable
minerals for the battery industry
FinnCobalt Oy (formerly Vulcan Hautalampi Oy) is a private Finnish company, which owns the ground and all mining rights of the Hautalampi Cobalt-Nickel-Copper Mine project. The Hautalampi Mine project locates in town of Outokumpu and has been previously known as the Cobalt-Nickel parallel of the historic Outokumpu (Keretti) Copper mine. Outokumpu Oyj prepared the Hautalampi mine for production in 1980’s. Outokumpu did a total of 11km of diamond drilling, a boxcut, 2.1 kilometres of drifting, including the decline and the ventilation rise, but the project was ceased due to a sudden collapse of the cobalt price in 1989. The project was further developed between 2007 and 2009 by drilling an additional 10 kilometres and preparing a complete Feasibility Study.
Recent development includes core drilling for metallurgical sampling 2017-2019, which was followed by the flotation test work by GTK Mintec laboratories. Commercial grade Cu- and Ni-Co-concentrates were produced. Further Ni-Co-concentrate leaching test work aiming for battery chemicals production was done by Outotec Oyj. All test work succeeded well and confirmed that Hautalampi mineralisation is suitable for battery chemicals production.
The project was prepared until spring 2020 with private funding and a loan granted by TEKES. Subsequently, the Swedish listed company Eurobattery Minerals AB became a owner and financier. Currently, FinnCobalt Oy is owned by Eurobattery Minerals AB (70%), Alandra Oy (10%), Kiviralli Oy (10%) and Tetra Ekberg Oy (10%). Eurobattery Minerals has a right and plans to acquire the remaining 30% of FinnCobalt Oy’s shares during the first half of 2024. The project has also received business development funding granted by the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY).
FinnCobalt Oy has completed 9300 meters of diamond drilling during the years 2020-2021. Based on this and earlier drilling (total over 86km) AFRY Finland Oy prepared an updated mineral resource estimate of the Hautalampi project.
The deposit has an Environmental Permit for underground mining in force. In the autumn of 2020, the company decided to commence a totally new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project including underground mining and on-site ore processing. The EIA was fully approved, and it got a reasoned conclusion in July 2023. Mining Concession proceedings were completed in October 2022 and the Hautalampi mining concession got its full legal force in June 2023. In the summer of 2023, FinnCobalt Oy began the preparation of an environmental permit application for the Hautalampi mine, which includes a concentrator, tailings storage facility, and water treatment plant.
The production schedule of Hautalampi is based on 12-year underground mining plan. The underground mining rate will be about 500,000 tonnes per annum. The ore will be processed in the concentrator plant to be built on site.
Total metal production will be 11,400 tonnes nickel and 2,900 tonnes cobalt in the nickel-cobalt concentrate and 9,600 tonnes copper in the copper concentrate. Based on the extensive metallurgical test work, the concentrates are very good quality, without any harmful elements.
Production schedule is based on the proven and probable ore reserves of 4.6Mt with the grades of Ni 0.28%, Cu 0.22%, and Co 0.08%. The additional mineral resource is a significant asset for the future development and extension of the Hautalampi life of mine.
Project Status
- Flotation tests – Completed in 2018
- New mineral resource update – Completed in 2022
- Pre-feasibility study – Completed in 2023
- New mine design – Updated in 2023
- Environmental impact assessment – Approved in 2023
- Environmental permit application works – Ongoing
- Feasibility study – Ongoing
