Description

SMA Mineral Oy has limestone mines in Tornio and Pieksämäki and a quartz mine in Tornio. The company also began exploration in 2015. SMA Mineral AB is the parent company and is domiciled in Filipstad in Sweden. The company is conducting operations at 30 locations in Europe, in seven countries. In Finland, SMA Mineral Oy excavates limestone and manufactures limestone based products at the Kalkkimaa and Loukolampi limestone product factories. Mining activities comprise strip mining sites and limestone factories, in which rock, depending on the product, is either crushed, sifted, ground and sacked. In addition to mining, the company also manufactures burned and slaked lime, which is not addressed by this report.

Kalkkimaa, the largest dolomite deposit in the Nordic countries, began its operations as early as during the 16th century. Provided that the current excavation volumes remain unchanged, the raw material will last for 500 years. Excavation at the dolomite deposit in Ankele began in the 1950s. At the Ristimaa quarry, quartz has been excavated since 1992.

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Toiminta-alue: Tornio and Pieksämäki

Yhteystiedot vastuullisuusasioissa:

Johanna Holm
johanna.holm@smamineral.com
+358 (0)44 583 7176

The company in figures in 2015

• Tuotantomäärä: A total volume of 139,490 tonnes of limestone products
• Kokonaislouhinta: 115,833 tonnes of ore and 16,251 tonnes of waste rock
• Raportoidut malmivarat: Unreported
• Raportoidut mineraalivarannot: Unreported
• Toiminnan aloitusvuosi: 1999 (exploration), 2015 (mining)
• Kaivoksen arvioitu jäljellä oleva elinikä: More than 50 years
• Kaivosalueen pinta-ala: 173 hectares (of which 40% has been purchased and 60% leased)
• Malminetsintäalueen pinta-ala: 94 hectares
• Omien työntekijöiden määrä: 11
• Työntekijöiden pääasialliset asuinkunnat: Kemi 9%, Keminmaa 18%, Tornio 27% and Pieksämäki 45%
• Vakituisten urakoitsijoiden määrä: 2
• Käyttökate EBITDA: Unreported
• Maksettu yhteisövero: EUR 0

About exploration

SMA Mineral Oy is a Finnish mining company that is also engaged in the exploration for ore. The company has carried out exploration since 2015. The company has valid claims and exploration permits amounting to 94 hectares (totalling 1) in the Peurakallio area. Exploration areas are thought to contain quartz at minimum. In exploration, the company has made use of deep drilling. A total of 254m of deep drilling was carried out in 2015. No permits concerning the exploration areas are subject to appeal.

Environment

Yrityksen ympäristökäytannöt:

• Location in a nature reserve*: yes
• Environmental management system exists**: yes
• An environmental impact assessment required (in accordance with the EIA Act): no
• Measurements of dust: yes
• Measurements of noise: yes
• Measurements of vibration: no
• Environmental impact assessment completed (no response): yes
• Deviations from the environmental permit (2015): no
• Environmental collateral exists: yes
• Closure plan for the mine exists: yes
• Plan for the shutdown of the mine in unexpected situations: yes

* In a Natura 2000 area. No Natura assessment on the impact of the activities has been carried out. ** Certified in accordance with the ISO 14001 standard. 

Keskeiset tunnusluvut:

2015

• Amount of extractive waste: 85t (waste from yard cleaning 100%)
• Utilisation of waste rock: 100% of gangue is used
• Fuel consumption: 1.8GWh
• Other energy consumption (electricity and heat): 3 GWh (nuclear power, 40%, peat 49% and renewable energy 11%)
• Water consumption: 0.004 million m3 Water led to the area amounts to 0.5 million m3, and the volume of water led back to nature amounts to 0.5 million m3.
• Number of dams in the mining area: 0
• Number of endangered species occurring in the operational area: 15
• Usage of chemicals dangerous to the environment: 0 kg
• The occurrence of protected plant species is systematically monitored and their possible habitats are prevented from becoming overgrown by clearing other vegetation and/or small-growth forest

Personnel and safety

Yrityksen henkilöstökäytännöt:

• Employee initiative programme exists: yes
• Goal and development dialogue programme covering the entire personnel: yes
• Personnel training plan: yes
• Equality plan: yes
• Personnel representation in company management: no
• Occupational and safety management system: no
• All personnel working in the area are in possession of an occupational health card: yes
• Company rescue unit: no

Keskeiset tunnusluvut vuonna:

2015

• Average number of training days per year: 2 days / employee
• Absence due to sickness (excluding contractors): 6.2 %.
• Lost-time injury frequency rate: 0 accidents per 1,000,000 working hours (accidents leading to a loss of more than one shift)
• Working time systems currently in use: 1-shift system, 2-shift system, 3-shift system, 8-hour working day system

Impact on the use of the neighbouring areas and the sources of livelihood

Vaikutukset paikallisiin elinkeinoihin: No mining and exploration is carried out in the reindeer management area. According to the company, those who earn their livelihood from rural activities and tourism are not stakeholders of the company. Landowners are taken into account in the stakeholder collaboration of the company.

Vaikutukset lähialueen virkistyskäyttöön:

Detrimental impact caused by SMA Mineral on land use activities include the impairment of living satisfaction and the loss of value of buildings in the immediate vicinity of the mining concession. In the immediate vicinity of operational areas, the frequency of occurrence of birds is somewhat reduced. Combined with other land use of the area, mining has a slightly detrimental impact on fungi and mushroom species in the area. A drainage impact on forest and bog areas can also be observed, but the nearby areas have also been ditched. On the positive side, mining contributes positively to the diversity of flora and fauna by keeping the landscape open and the soil nutritious.

Vaikutukset maisema-arvoon:

Landscape values have been taken into account in the operations of the company. The Kalkkimaa facility area and the road leading to it bears the marking of “sk/p” in the land use plan, indicating that they constitute a cultural environment of local significance. The traditional structure of the area and the scale of construction must be retained unchanged, and efforts should be taken to retain road alignments and old curtilages, including their cultivated lands.

Interaction with stakeholders

Sidosryhmäyhteistyö:

• The most important channels of the company for stakeholder communication are the local paper, annual report, website, letters and events (open-door days – European Minerals Day – and visits)
• The company has supported local youth work related to sports
• The company provides summer and training jobs for pupils and students
• A channel is available for stakeholders to submit feedback, and practices are in place for processing it

Tutkimus- ja yhteistyöhankkeet:

• Arktisen teollisuuden sivuvirrat ATS2 (“By-products of the Arctic industry”) – A development plan for the operational environment of small and medium-sized enterprises
• RAE – ”Rakeistaminen Avartaa Ekologisuutta” (“Granulation opens up new opportunities for an ecological approach”)
• Pohjois-Suomen UUMA2 – Alueellinen uusiomateriaalien edistämishanke (“A regional project for the promotion of the use of recycled materials in Northern Finland”)
• TPA- Tuotannon poikkeama analyysi (“An analysis of deviations experienced in production”)