Sotkamo Silver has chosen a new mining contractor to begin work on January 1, 2026, following the expiration of the current contract with Veljekset Toivanen Oy. The agreement with the new contractor, Tapojärvi Oy, was signed on June 24, 2025. The signed contract is for three years and includes two optional additional years.
“The new contractor, Tapojärvi Oy, has solid experience and a strong track record in underground mining, including previous contracting work at Sotkamo Silver’s mine. We believe Tapojärvi Oy will provide us with the necessary resources and expertise for the long-term development of our operations,” says Sotkamo Silver’s CEO, Mikko Jalasto.
Sotkamo Silver’s main project is a silver mine located in Sotkamo, Finland. In addition to silver, the mine produces gold, zinc and lead. The company also has mining and ore prospecting rights for mineral deposits in the vicinity of the silver mine in Kainuu. Sotkamo Silver Group consists of the parent company Sotkamo Silver AB and its wholly-owned Finnish subsidiary (Sotkamo Silver Oy).
Mining is done dominantly from the underground mine but a small open pit has been planned to access the ore body near the surface. Underground mining is conducted by longitudinal bench and fill method. The stopes will be back-filled with a rock fill. The open pit mining has been started from the outcropping mineralisation. According to the mine plan, the final depth of the open pit will be ca. 45 metres.
The mined ore is crushed and milled before the flotation process to desired grain size. Crushing is done in two phases followed by milling in the bar and ball mills. The flotation process is conducted in the stages. The first stage is the silver-gold-lead flotation which is followed by the zinc-silver flotation and pyrite flotation stages. Each flotation stage consists of several steps. Residue of the flotation is pumped as a slurry to the tailings management facility (TMF) where material is deposited and water circulated back to the flotation process.
Silver-gold-lead concentrate is transported in the containers to smelter for further processing and zinc-silver concentrate is trucked to the customer’s facilty. Currently, pyrite-silver concentrate is stored for possible utilisation.