The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) has given a positive recommendation to the Terrafame miner to obtain permission for commercial uranium mining, STUK reported on Tuesday.
Such a recommendation could influence the government's decision to grant Terrafame permission, allowing the company to become the leader in industrial-scale uranium mining in the country.
“There are no radiation safety impediments to permitting Terrafame's uranium extraction plants,” STUK said in a statement.
Terrafame plans to mine uranium obtained as a by-product of other metals and turn it into yellowcake, a semi-finished uranium oxide product used to make nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants.
“The ore processed by the company annually contains about 300 tons of uranium, half of which is dissolved in the biological leaching process. The uranium extraction plant will be able to extract about 135 tons of the specified uranium, ”explained STUK.
If approved, Terrafame will be able to start production this year and will invest € 10 million ($ 11.3 million) to expand the capacity of one of its plants.
Until now, uranium mining in Finland has been carried out only in test mode.
Terrafame Ltd is a diversified company producing nickel, zinc, cobalt and copper at its Sotkamo mine. The company is 77 percent owned by the state-owned Finnish Minerals Group.
