Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland (PSAVI) rejected Terrafame’s application to start mining in the Kolmisoppi land area, said Terrafame in a press release on Tuesday.
The agency on Tuesday issued a decision to Terrafame regarding the environmental and water management permit for exploiting the Kolmisoppi ore deposit in Sotkamo, Finland.
Kolmisoppi is Terrafame’s second, yet unexploited ore deposit located in the northern part of the mining concession.
The agency requires that the permitting for the exploitation of Kolmisoppi be handled as part of Terrafame’s main permit covering all its operations, which the company plans to apply for in the spring of 2026.
The decision makes the permitting schedule even more critical in terms of Terrafame’s strategy execution, said the company.
In its reasoning, PSAVI stated that, in its view, the Kolmisoppi project is linked to the company’s existing operations to such an extent that the Kolmisoppi permitting must be handled as part of the environmental and water management permit covering Terrafame’s entire operations, the so-called main permit.
“The permit decision by the Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland regarding the Kolmisoppi ore deposit is not the outcome Terrafame had hoped for. It is our understanding that the application was not rejected due to its content but rather on technical grounds of permitting. One of the underlying assumptions of Terrafame’s new strategy for the years 2026–2030 is that we will be able to start mining at Kolmisoppi in 2028,” said Antti Koulumies, CEO of Terrafame.
“However, we have not given up on our plans for Kolmisoppi. We still believe we can secure the permit on a faster schedule thanks to its status as an EU strategic project. We are moving ahead with our strategy implemention as planned and will submit the main permit application next spring, with Kolmisoppi included,” the CEO added.
“We aim to submit a new permit application in April 2026, covering both Terrafame’s current operations under the main permit and the entire Kolmisoppi project, including mining in the land and water areas. Based on our estimates, we expect a decision on the permit package in 2027”, said Veli-Matti Hilla, Chief Sustainability Officer of Terrafame.
Terrafame’s Kolmisoppi project was granted strategic project status under the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) in March 2025. The status guarantees that permitting processes proceed within the deadlines defined in the Act.
Terrafame divided the original permit process regarding the exploitation of Kolmisoppi into two phases: the company submitted the permit application for mining in the land area in July 2023, and the permit application related to mining in the water area was intended to be submitted at the end of 2025.
The project’s environmental impacts have been previously assessed in an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure. Terrafame aims to start mining operations in the Kolmisoppi land area in 2028.
- Terrafame
- Application
- Mining
- Rejected
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
