Boliden to expand nickel production in Harjavalta, Finland

Stockholm-based mining and smelting company Boliden says it has invested 40 million euros, or $47.6 million, to expand its nickel operations at its smelter in Harjavalta, Finland. The investment will be implemented in 2021.

Boliden Harjavalta’s main products are copper, nickel, gold and silver.

The company says it is the only nickel smelter in Western Europe, producing nickel matte in a single step from concentrates and recycled metals. Boliden's two mines in Finland at Kylylahti and Kevitsa provide the smelter with concentrates. Concentrates are also purchased from external mines.

The investment will increase infeed capacity in Harjavalta from 310,000 metric tons to 370,000 metric tons of raw material per year. The expansion consists of a new concentrate dryer, increased capacity in the electric smelting furnace and granulation, as well as automated tapping of molten metal, the company says.

Klas Nilsson of Boliden says the expansion will not affect scrap consumption at the facility.

"We are now continuing on our nickel strategy that began in 2015,” says Daniel Peltonen, president of business area smelters. “The investment strengthens our productivity and competitiveness while further improving our already very strong environmental performance. The investment is also very well-coordinated with the facility's maintenance needs."

Harjavalta's carbon dioxide intensity per metric ton of nickel produced will decrease by 15 to 20 percent following the expansion, Boliden says, and position the company to meet the growing demand for nickel from, among others, the battery manufacturing sector for the automotive industry.