The Fourth Nordic Exploration Award 2010 was awarded to geologist Dr. Tapani Mutanen for:

• His extensive and successful exploration work with layered intrusions in Finnish Lapland
• His great persistence and determination to understand the role of magmatic processes in ore genesis
• His discovery of the Kevitsa nickel-copper deposit in Northern Finland.

Kevitsa is yet another example of the long time it often takes from the discovery of a deposit to the actual commencement of the mining operation. In this work Mutanen has played an important role with his great energy and his knowledge of the magmatic processes which were decisive for his discovery of the Kevitsa nickel-copper deposit. For his commitment and his thorough work Mutanen has been awarded this year’s Nordic Exploration Award.

During the 1970s, 1980s and into the 1990s the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) discovered several significant mineral occurrences. Some were large and had in common the feature that the ore mineralogy was complicated which is why it took a long time before mining could begin. Talvivaara nickel deposit and Kittila gold mine are but two other examples of this.

Mutanen received his master’s degree at the University of Uleåborg in 1972 and in 1997 at the University of Helsinki he successfully defended his doctoral thesis on the layered intrusions in Finnish Lapland. He joined the GTK in 1973 when his long and purposeful exploration career began; it was crowned in the 1990s with the discovery of the Kevitsa nickel-copper deposit. As this deposit has a relatively complex mineralogy, an extensive testing process was necessary something which Mutanen with his mineralogical competence predicted.

From 2005 until 2008 GTK’s laboratory performed the crucial tests. These showed that two different concentrates should be produced: a nickel-PGM concentrate and a copper-gold-concentrate.

The Kevitsa mine, owned by First Quantum Minerals, is now under construction and open-pit mining will begin in 2012. The anticipated annual processing capacity will be 5 Mt of ore with the possibility to expand. Kevitsa will be Finland’s, largest copper producer, the second largest nickel mine and the first platinum-palladium producer in Europe. It will be one of Finland’s largest metal mines with reserves large enough for more than 20 years of mining. There will be a workforce of approximately 200 when commercial production starts demonstrating the great importance of mining as an employer in regions with not many other alternatives.

The Nordic Exploration Award is sponsored by Raw Materials Group and honours outstanding achievement, accomplishment and service to the Nordic exploration industry. For selection criteria and nominations please see http://www.rmg.se/ For more information please contact Magnus Ericsson email [email protected]