This article will examine the minerals of Finland, their extraction, processing and role in the country's economy. This topic will have to be started from afar, from about a period of three billion years ago, when these places were buried under a huge glacier. Mainly due to the events of that time, Finland's minerals appeared in such numbers.
ice Age
It was during the ice age that a huge crystalline granite shield was formed, on which huge heavy ice strata pressed the earth's crust to such an extent that two large bodies of water formed - the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic Sea, which were initially lakes. It was the glaciers that formed the relief of Finland. Ice more than three kilometers thick were able to bend the Earth itself. They carried away from the surface more than seven meters of rock.
The whole system of Finnish lakes and the enormous boulders brought in can tell a lot about how the relief of Finland turned out to be the same as we are seeing now. Three percent of the country's territory is absolutely open granites, and another eleven percent is the same granite underground under a depth of not more than one meter. Thanks to the ice age, Finland's minerals are many non-ferrous and rare earth metals. The fact that in ancient times there was a glacier on this earth is felt absolutely throughout the country.
Finland today
The place where Finland is located is the north of Europe. The largest part of the country is located on the Scandinavian Peninsula. It borders with Norway, Russia, Sweden, and by sea - with Estonia. Its area is small - three hundred and thirty-eight thousand square kilometers. About five and a half million people live here, the vast majority of whom settled in the capital - Helsinki - and other smaller cities, and only thirty percent of the population - in the remaining territories. The abundance of lakes, forests, swamps is a characteristic feature of that part of the planet where Finland is located.
No less geographical details are interesting in this area flora and fauna. Bears and moose are not uncommon here, but the coat of arms of Finland always depicted a lion not living in these places (although there is an opinion that in 1580 this king was called a beast trot). Since Finland spent most of its existence (about five hundred years) as a province in Sweden, it is precisely the Swedish king Gustav I who owns this image. The coat of arms of Finland appeared then on its statue in the Gothic temple of Uppsala. Finland was part of Russia for a short time, and then this lion (or lynx) was depicted on a shield that was located on the chest of the imperial double-headed eagle.
Geography
Finland's geography is quite peculiar: more than two-thirds of its territory lies two hundred meters below sea level and has the appearance of hilly moraine plains with frequent rock formations, lake basins and ridges of hills - Salpausselkä, Suomenselkä, Manselkä.
The north-west of the country is occupied by the Scandinavian mountains (their eastern tip). The height of the mountains reaches 1365 meters in Finland - this is Haltiatunturi mountain. A little less than sixty thousand lakes, or eight percent of all territories, form large water systems. Rivers are not long here, but they are rapids and high water.
Geology
The geology of Finland is determined by its location on the Baltic shield. The rocks here are early Precambrian metamorphic, as well as granites, and all of them seem to be covered with a haze of glacial and glacial deposits of the Quaternary. Glacier retreats are therefore visible in all their phases. The Gulf of Bothnia crosses the fault zone, which extends to Lake Ladoga itself, dividing the area of the Precambrian formations into two regions. Greenstone belts of Archean times extend to the east, sharply overlapping by debris and volcanic rocks of Yatulia (early Proterozoic).
Precisely these deposits of precious metal ores (and others - are easier) are connected: ores here are not only gold, but also uranium, iron, copper, nickel, polymetallic, vanadium and cobalt. In the west, there are calcareous alkaline volcanics, shales, and graywackes up to two billion years old, which were formed by volcanic island arcs and marginal seas. In many places they are broken through by plutons of granitoids, where in a special place is the Central Finnish batholith. There are many small deposits of polymetallic, copper, iron, nickel and rare earth ores.
Research
In 1947, a scientific geological society was organized in Finland, in 1970 it was reorganized into an academy. It is the latter that is engaged in the geology and mining of the country. The curator is a special commission that is part of the structure of the academy, where members are scientists in the field of natural sciences. Problems arising can also be solved by the council involved in technological research, which is part of the academy, and it is imperative that one more council, which studies the environment, delves into all issues.
Finnish universities study both mining and geology, but these disciplines are taught at general faculties (natural sciences) with one exception. This is the Technological University of Helsinki - a state university founded in 1908. There is a separate faculty of metallurgy and mining. However, many universities in Finland can be named where various disciplines are taught that are inextricably linked with mining and geology, despite the fact that these faculties are not separate, but general, and are dedicated to the natural sciences.
Finnish Minerals
Finland's chrome ore is extremely rich. The reserves of zinc, cobalt, nickel, copper, apatites, vanadium and, of course, peat are also large. Iron ore is mined in the northwest of the country. Ferruginous quartzites are located in the Pakhtovara deposit, apatites and magnetites are located in Kaimaryavi, and Makkola, Khitura and Kotalahti give copper and nickel. Precious metal ore deposits are developed in southern Finland, in Kemi and northern Lapland. The deposits of Vammala, Outokumpu, Vihanti contain gold, silver and platinoids (the resources of the latter are insignificant).
Rare metals are mined in the southern and central zones, here the main deposits are Kangasala and Kemiyo, where the ore content is characterized by the presence of ilmenite, phlogopite, magnetite, zircon, pyrochlore, baddelite. The ore reserves of apatite, chromium, and vanadium are quite significant, in Europe in first place in terms of quantity, cobalt in second. Also a lot of iron ores, zinc, copper, nickel. Peat and non-metallic minerals are mined in Finland very widely. Peat deposits are very numerous and located almost throughout the country, but each of them is small in size. It is economically viable to develop deposits exceeding twenty hectares, where the thickness of the layers should be more than two meters. In Finland, far from all deposits are.
Ores
Almost all uranium ore deposits are located in the Karelian quartzite-shale complex or at the borders with the Archean granite-gneiss complex. Of the significant deposits, Kolari Paltamo, Paukaianvar and Noutiyarvi can be noted. Iron ores are located in the northwest and central part of Finland. Most often, they are associated with Karelian orogenesis, its leptite formation.
Among the ores there are ferruginous quartzites (Pakhtovara), apatites and magnetides (Kaymayarvi and others), magnetite skarns (Ariyarvi and Tervola), ilmenite-magnetites (in Otanmyaki and other places). Skarn and igneous deposits are developed comprehensively. Vanadium and titanium in ores are located on the eastern tip of the Baltic Shield. These formations are associated with the Lower and Middle Proterozoic period. They are being developed in the Mustavara and Otanmyaki fields.
Polymetals
Chromium ore is concentrated in one deposit, which feeds all the relevant industry in Finland. This is Kemi - at the Gulf of Bothnia, on its northern shore. Cobalt, nickel, copper, and the like, non-ferrous metals in ores occur in the Ladoga-Bothnian belt, and two types of geological and industrial deposits have been identified. These are copper-nickel in the Kotalakhtinsky subzone of the sulfide belt (Makkola, Khitura, Kotalakhti and others), where the average copper content is 0.3% and nickel is 1.2%.
The second type is stratomorphic pyrite deposits, which are associated with graphite black schists (Hammaslacti, Vuonos, Outokumpu and some others), where the silver content is 11 grams per ton of ore, gold - up to one gram, zinc - 7%, copper - 3, 5%, and also there is a little cobalt and nickel. Polymetallic ores are found in the southern deposits on the Baltic Shield, where, in addition to zinc and lead, gold, copper, silver and many other elements are contained.
Industry of Finland
In the general characteristics of the country's economic activity, in 1986, GDP amounted to 357 billion Finnish marks. It should be noted that this indicator is constantly and steadily growing. An interesting feature is that the mining industry accounts for only tenths of a percent of GDP, and manufacturing - more than twenty percent.
Despite the fairly large reserves of minerals, the main natural wealth is forest, covering more than half of the entire country. Accordingly, all the main sectors of the Finnish economy are engaged in the development of these resources. Finland has problems with energy resources, although commercial development of solid and liquid fuel deposits begins.
How it was
Mineral resources have been developed in Finland since ancient times, even Finnish legends (runes) tell about iron ores. Although until the thirteenth century, except stone and iron, nothing was used. The mining industry during the Swedish rule in Finland did not develop, because even for exploration, and even more for development, it was necessary to have the personal permission of the king of Sweden.
In the sixteenth century, iron ore was mined, and cast iron was decided to be melted only in the eighteenth, and even this was a production closer to artisanal. In the nineteenth century, already part of Russia, the authorities began to encourage both exploration and mining of minerals.
