Everything is big and sometimes grand in Aitik. The trucks load enormous amounts of rock and the loaders eat into the blasted rock with giant bites.
In the clip you see how the area has completely changed character after seven months of mining.
Higher copper contents than the open pit mine
The Liikvaara field is considered an important part of the mining operations in Aitik. Here the copper content is higher, 0.26 percent compared to 0.17 during current mining in the large open pit mine in Aitik.
The right levels from Liikavaara are needed as a mixture to get a good end product, according to Boliden.
– It is an important contribution right now, says Tomas Eriksson-Ek, site manager at Boliden Aitik.
Three villages have been sacrificed for the mine
Before the mining could begin, Boliden had to buy out the 50 permanent residents and 25 holiday home owners in Sakajärvi, Laurajärvi and Liikavaara and did the realignment of road E10.
The mine will be mined in six years, based on what is known today. And if no new discoveries are made, restoration work will begin around the year 2030.
– We have an ecological post-treatment plan that describes the restoration and a target image of what it should look like, says Tomas Eriksson-Ek.