More precious than gold

A platinum mine in Finland? This is fully possible, according to GTK experts. A zone extending all the way to Russian Karelia that is known to contain metals of the platinum group passes through northern Finland.

The production of platinum metals is concentrated in a couple of locations in the world. 80% of all platinum produced in the world comes from South Africa, and a couple of major deposits are located in Russia, one in the northernmost town of Siberia, Norilsk, and the other in the Nishni Tagil region in the Urals. Only approximately 5% of platinum comes from the United States and Canada. The unstable conditions in the main production areas make the platinum metal market highly susceptible to disturbances.

Platinum is a sought-after metal because it is needed in many sectors of modern industry, and there are hardly any alternative materials available. Metals of the platinum group are used in heating elements, electrical switche s, fuel injection units of jet engines and cathodic anti-corrosion systems for steel columns. Most platinum is utilised by the automotive industry where platinum metals are used as the catalysts in catalysers of combustion engines. Platinum also has a strong position in the manufacture of laboratory equipment, as a medical substance, and as a material for human body transplants, not to forget the jewellery industry which values platinum even higher than gold.

The world market price of platinum increased quickly between 2002 and 2007 when the demand for all other raw materials was also on the rise. This was mostly a question of supplementing industrial supplies due to uncertain conditions in the producing countries. However, the demand for platinum continuously increases. In May 2009, the world market price of platinum was € 28–30 per gram, while palladium – included in the same group of metals – cost € 5–6 per gram. The third important platinum group metal, rhodium, which is used as an alloying element when hardening platinum and palladium, has recently cost approximately € 40 per gram.

Clear signs of platinum deposits in Finland

One of GTK’s tasks is to provide information on potential metal and mineral resources in Finland, and the platinum group metals have been one of the promising recent research subjects. There are several ultramafic–mafic layer intrusions in Finland. These were created by magma that contained unusually high amounts of platinum group metals. The quantity of platinum group metals contained in these intrusions has been estimated up to a depth of one kilometre utilising quantitative analysis methods.

The potential in Finland can be described by the fact that the currently known platinum–palladium reserves only represent around one per cent of the estimated total reserves. Most of the deposits consist of palladium, and the total quantity of palladium has been estimated at 23,000 tonnes.

So far, small quantities of metals included in the platinum group have been obtained in Finland as by-products of nickel–copper mines, and gold panners in Lapland have occasionally found single platinum nuggets. GTK’s research project is still at the reporting stage but the prognosis shows that Finland holds major platinum metal reserves. Industrial mining activities cannot be started before effective and successful exploration has been conducted.

TEXT Susanna Heikkinen