Appalling Environmental Crisis in Finland!

Leak has now stopped completely, and shares have rocketed +15% in Helsinki and 26% in London in one day! Other good news is that concentrations of uranium have dropped 3x since yesterday. They are not evil organization that wants to rape the nature, they are working hard to fix the situation, since they could be mining there over 100 years, ore deposit is so vast.

Now they are researching why there water in pool was acidic. In acidic conditions the gypsum doesn't tie the heavy metals, it should be kept at base side.

Metal plant still doesn't have permit to be started. They will fix the pool as well, but its going to be expensive. The waste pool is huge.

Faith in Talvivaara restored.

Originally posted by Thebel
Leak has now stopped completely, and shares have rocketed +15% in Helsinki and 26% in London in one day! Other good news is that concentrations of uranium have dropped 3x since yesterday. They are not evil organization that wants to rape the nature, they are working hard to fix the situation, since they could be mining there over 100 years, ore deposit is so vast.

Now they are researching why there water in pool was acidic. In acidic conditions the gypsum doesn't tie the heavy metals, it should be kept at base side.

Metal plant still doesn't have permit to be started. They will fix the pool as well, but its going to be expensive. The waste pool is huge.

Faith in Talvivaara restored.

It will be easy to start repairing now that the pond is empty. And as I said earlier, the stock market play begins. Hopefully too many won't fall for that.

Maybe they now will put some effort into the pond. I still predict bankruptcy.

The concentrations are still over ten times higher than they ought to be. This WILL effect the ecosystem badly.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
I thought Finland was more progressive environmentally than the States.I don't know what the standards are in Finland, but in the US, landfills have to have a 5 foot liner. I can only imagine what the mines need to have. But the technology has been around long enough that more then a thin plastic liner is needed. Why isn't there a catching system in the first place?
Also, landfills and mines in the US have to carry a pretty hefty insurance policy worth billions(there is a name for it, I forget what it is) in case of any disaster or spills, so it isn't left on the taxpayers.

If indeed, all circumstances have been ignored, then the situations isn't overplayed and some people made some very serious environmental decisions to save money, and should be hung.

Mining laws are lagging behind since during 90's some wise guys said that there is no ores in Finland. We had times when there was no metal mines working at all. Now Finland is one of most promising countries for mines. Too bad Talvivaara is only finnish mining company, others are foreign.

Finnish operator says it has plugged nickel mine leak

(AFP) – 34 minutes ago

www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jRoeW8bZ1pl6amE_psXcyTt1MAGg

HELSINKI — Leaks from a Finnish nickel mine that have dumped toxic metals into the environment were plugged on Wednesday, the mine operator said.

"The leakage of the gypsum pond at the Sotkamo mine (around 500 km or 300 miles north of Helsinki) has stopped," the Talvivaara group said in a statement.

"Most of the water that had previously leaked from the pond is contained within the mining concession area by the newly built fourth safety dam. No further release of the leakage water outside the mine area is anticipated," it added.

Toxic levels of nickel, cadmium, uranium, aluminium and zinc have been detected in a nearby lake and river, said the Finnish Environment Institute, part of the Ministry of Environment.

But the effects on the region's waterways won't be fully known before the spring or summer, the agency said.

Samples from the Kivijaervi lake and Lumijoki river show that the concentration of toxic metals exceeds levels deemed dangerous to fish and other organisms.

The government said on Tuesday that 900 kilogrammes (2,000 pounds) of nickel had leaked from the gypsum pond towards a lake located south of the plant, while around 220 kilos of nickel had leaked to the north of the pond.

On Wednesday, 1,000 people demonstrated in front of the ministry in Helsinki, saying the government's response had been inadequate and calling for the mine to be closed.

Finnish authorities have asked Talvivaara to submit more information about the accident before deciding when operations at the mine can resume.

Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved.

A very big step forward has happened today. The former CEO Pekka Perä has accepted the new nomination to continue as CEO through this harsch time for the company. I have all the respect for him to step up and carry the responsibility he should have done from the beginning. A very humbled 'old'-new CEO talked about the future of the company and was apologizing for the trouble and destruction caused.

The biggest problem seems to be the funding. As the company has no productivity and they seem to be out of money, they really have to struggle through this one. And the lost credibility isn't helping.

But, now they have stepped up. And this is a very honorable sign in my eyes. Showing the will to work towards better times and solutions will probably seed in increasing credibility on the market.

Let us just hope the environment can be saved without drastic animal or plant deaths. And of coarse without human deceases.