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Arctic Yearbook 2015
ideology and a mining industry still dominated by state owned companies. Today Russia mainly
struggles with a lack of institutional capacities for governance. Finland and Sweden are Nordic welfare
states, with strong state institutions that have experienced a recent mining boom, mostly dominated
by international companies, and have had to adjust with recent and extensive regulatory changes.
Finland, for example, throughout its mining history has been until now dominated by state-owned
companies; with the introduction of international companies came also recent changes to mining and
environmental regulations. Greenland has some history of mining, mostly controlled by Denmark, but
now is an emerging mining country that recently received larger resource management autonomy and
has had to develop its own governance framework.
Finland, Russia and Sweden are some of the key metal and mining producing countries in the
European Arctic (Kokko 2014, Government offices of…2013). In 2011, Sweden accounted for 80-90% of
iron ore in the EU (SveMin 2012: 3). The Russian Arctic zone is a traditional mining region producing
a vast range of mineral commodities (Dobretsov & Pokhilenko 2010; Kaminsky et al. 2014; Matveev
2015). It is ranked among the world’s leading producers of nickel (12% of total world output),
aluminum (8%), copper (6%), diamonds (29%), and gold (8%) (EU Mineral Statistics 2013). While
Greenland does not currently have operating mines, it has vast mineral reserves that have drawn
increasing interest both globally and from the EU. Greenland has ambitious plans to expand their
mining industry (Government of Greenland 2014).
Arctic mining industry in the national context
Finland
During the 2000s, the mining industry in Finland experienced a new “boom” (Kokko 2014). The
previous prosperous era of mining in Finland ended in the late 1980s and was led by the state-owned
mining company Outokumpu. In 1994, Finland joined the European Economic Area (EEA) and the
Finnish mining sector was opened up to international actors, but it was not until the beginning of
2000s that the country really began to draw the interest of international mining companies
(Hernesniemi et al. 2011: 137). Today international companies dominate the mining sector (Kokko
2014: 15).
Geographically speaking, mining activities are concentrated in the Eastern and Northern parts of
Finland, which typically suffer from a declining population and a lack of economic opportunities. In
2013, there were 12 metal ore mines in operation in Finland, with the primary products consisting of
chrome, zinc, nickel, cobalt, gold and silver. Major mining projects located north of the Arctic Circle
include Kittilä, Pahtavaara and Kevitsa. In addition, Anglo American Ltd plans to open a mine in
Sodankylä. The Kittilä gold mine, operated by Agnico Eagle, is the largest gold mine in Europe. At
Pahtavaara gold mine production was halted in 2014 when the mining company Lappland Goldminers
AB, filed for bankruptcy. Of the mines in Finland, Kevitsa copper and nickel mine has been evaluated
as the mine providing most employment and with the vastest impact on the regional economy
(Laukkonen & Törmä 2014).
Governance of Sustainable Mining in Arctic Countries