Boliden to cut 100 jobs in Sodankylä, scraps €1bn investment and closes mine

Swedish mining company Boliden will lay off around 100 workers at its Kevitsa mine in Sodankylä, northern Finland, and cancel a planned €1 billion expansion, Kauppalehti reports.

CEO Mikael Staffas confirmed the investment—meant to extend operations beyond 2034—has been permanently abandoned, making closure “highly likely” after that year. The mine currently employs just over 500 people in exploration and extraction, a significant share of Sodankylä’s 8,000 residents.

The shutdown also threatens Boliden’s smelter in Harjavalta, western Finland, which relies on Kevitsa for roughly 25% of its concentrate supply. Staffas warned that without domestic mine output—particularly for nickel, of which Finland is a key European source—keeping the smelter operational “will be very difficult.” The company has already shifted to 100% market purchases for raw materials.

Staffas criticized recent Finnish policy changes, including higher mining taxes, reduced EU emissions-trading subsidies, and stricter environmental rules, calling them “deeply disappointing.” Boliden will also cut its Finnish exploration budget, halting all prospecting in Central Finland while continuing limited work in Lapland.

A small bright spot came with a minor investment in sulfuric acid production at Harjavalta, tied to a TNT factory project in Pori.