Geological Survey of Finland - Geologian tutkimuskeskus

Mining sites
GTK examined the chemical changes
in a tailings stockpiling facility containing
ferrous sulphide and its impacts
on surface water and groundwater, and
the suitability of wetland treatment for
the purification of the seepage water in
the stockpiling facility. The suitability of
geophysical methods for describing the
structure of the tailings stockpiling facility
was also tested.
Soil investigation in a tailings stockpiling
facility showed that compressing
peat provides an excellent protective
layer, which prevents the underlying
layers and the groundwater in them
from becoming contaminated. If the seepage
waters are discharged onto the
surface or to the contact areas of the
dams surrounding the facility, the wetland
treatment method can be applied.
The joint professorship in applied environmental
geochemistry backed by
GTK and the University of Kuopio that
was set up in August 2003 will promote
research cooperation in environmental
matters relevant to the excavating industry
and the metal industry. The professorship
will also help to expand our
basic knowledge of the chemical behaviour
of heavy metals in land and water
environments, which in turn will make it
easier to develop technology for the
remediation of contaminated areas.
Marja Liisa Räisänen
Seepage water area in a tailings
stockpiling facility at Luikonlahti old
copper mine in Kaavi. Photo: Marja
Liisa Räisänen
Consideration of environmental aspects
when extracting land resources
Depending on the overall economic
situation, between 60 and 100 million
tonnes of land resources, such as gravel,
sand and crushed stone is used in
Finland every year. The largest amounts
of land resources are produced in areas
near growth centres where environmental
aspects and the need to protect
groundwater supplies have to be considered
when decisions are made on land
resources supply and other forms of
land use.
The duty to report extraction activities
that was incorporated in the updated
Land Extraction Act in 1997 created a
basis for natural resource accounting,
which provides information about the
amount and quality of the remaining
land resources. A pilot project carried
out by GTK and the Finnish Environment
Institute in 1999-2000 showed that
a well-functioning and workable accounting
system can be put into effect by
combining the extraction and resource
register data.
The Ministry of the Environment, the
Finnish Environment Institute and GTK
have agreed to collaborate in the development
of natural resource accounting.
The system will be made part of
GeoKernel, GTK’s data management
system, which can be accessed via the
Internet. GTK has already launched a
development project on natural resource
accounting under which the project
framework plan and work plan for 2004-
2006 were drawn up in collaboration
with the environmental administration
in 2003. The aim is to secure the land
resources supply for society at large
and improve material effectiveness in
accordance with the principle of sustainable
development.
Ismo Ahonen
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