View source for Nickel deposits of Finland

{{Short description|Mine in Finland}}
The '''Finnish [[nickel]]''' deposits were found in the [[Pechengsky District|Petsamo]] area near the [[Barents Sea]]. Until the [[Paris Peace Treaties, 1947]], this was the northernmost part of [[Finland]]. In 1934 it was estimated that the deposits contained over five million tons of nickel. In 1935, [[Canada|Canadian]] and [[France|French]] corporations began mining operations there.

The nickel deposits were a lesser known reason for [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] and [[Nazi Germany|German]] interest in the area during [[World War II]], as potentially of great importance for production of arms and munitions. Both the planned Franco-British support of Finland in the [[Winter War]], and German occupation of [[Denmark]] and [[Norway]] ([[Operation Weserübung]]) were partly motivated by control of the nickel mines.

During the period between the Winter War and [[Operation Barbarossa|the German invasion]] of the [[Soviet Union]] in 1941, there were disputes between Finland and the Soviet Union over mining rights in Petsamo. Finland refused to allow the Soviet Union to mine nickel in Petsamo. This was one of the causes of hostility between the Soviet Union and Finland, which led to the [[Continuation War]]. As part of the German invasion, troops from Norway occupied the Petsamo region in 1941, securing the nickel supply.

The Continuation War ended in September 1944, with the Moscow armistice of 19 September 1944. Finland ceded Petsamo to the Soviet Union. All subsequent nickel production there has been under Soviet or [[Russia]]n authority.

For the [[geology]] of Finnish nickel deposits see,
* [[Ore genesis|Genesis of nickel ores]]
* [[layered intrusion|Ultramafic intrusions]]

== Deposits mined later ==
In more recent years, several small nickel deposits have been mined in other parts of Finland.

* The [[Stormi mine]] in [[Vammala]] was mined from 1960 to 1969.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://en.gtk.fi/ExplorationFinland/Commodities/Nickel/stormi.html |title=GTK |access-date=2007-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720014931/http://en.gtk.fi/ExplorationFinland/Commodities/Nickel/stormi.html |archive-date=2011-07-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* The [[Kotalahti mine]] in Leppävirta was mined from 1954 to 1987.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://en.gtk.fi/ExplorationFinland/Commodities/Nickel/kotalahti.html |title=GTK |access-date=2007-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204151514/http://en.gtk.fi/ExplorationFinland/Commodities/Nickel/kotalahti.html |archive-date=2010-12-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* The [[Enonkoski mine]] in [[Enonkoski]] was mined from 1984 to 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://en.gtk.fi/ExplorationFinland/Commodities/Nickel/enonkoski.html |title=GTK |access-date=2007-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720015119/http://en.gtk.fi/ExplorationFinland/Commodities/Nickel/enonkoski.html |archive-date=2011-07-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

All of these deposits were mined by [[Outokumpu]].

* The [[Hitura mine]] in [[Nivala]] was operational in 2009.
* The [[Talvivaara Mining Company|Talvivaara]] mine in [[Sotkamo]] was to commence operations in late 2008.<ref>[http://www.talvivaara.com/index.phtml?page_id=1077&navi_id=1049&10064_ni=10172&10064_newsList_t=readNewsItem& Talvivaara Press Release]{{Dead link|date=September 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Geology of Finland]]
[[Category:Economy of Finland]]
[[Category:Mining in Finland]]
[[Category:Nickel mines in Finland]]


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