Steel manufacturer Outokumpu (Helsinki, Finland) announced that its Kemi mine, together with the EU-funded Lapland Mining Hub project and Digipolis in Kemi, is launching a data-driven circular economy ecosystem that aims to transform the mine’s side streams from waste into valuable resources while reducing the use of virgin raw materials. The aim is to build a long-term model in which side streams can be utilized on an industrial scale, creating new business in both the Lapland region and internationally. The project, led by the Regional Council of Lapland, aims to strengthen the mining industry’s pioneering role in the region while supporting operators in advancing a vision where a significant share of mining side streams is used as raw material for new products and solutions.
“The EU’s green transition increases the need for new kinds of solutions, especially as the need for critical raw materials and material efficiency requirements are rapidly changing the operating environment. The utilization of side streams is no longer just an environmental act, but part of competitiveness and supply security. Our Kemi mine is the only chromium mine in the EU and plays a strategic role in ensuring critical mineral self-sufficiency as well as the entire stable and low-emission value chain. The project now launched at the mine is part of Outokumpu’s wider ecosystem in Kemi-Tornio, the future potential of which we see as significant. Our business is strongly based on the circular economy, as more than 95% of the raw materials we use are already recycled,” says Martti Sassi, President for Business Area Ferrochrome at Outokumpu.
Similar industry- and data-driven circular economy models focusing on mining side streams have not previously been implemented in Finland. The production of the Kemi mine generates nearly 3 million tonnes of waste rock and tailings annually, of which waste rock is utilized in the mining area and outside of it. The currently available volumes of side streams could be utilized in the future in several new innovative applications, such as soil amendment materials, low-carbon cement replacement, carbon sequestration, thermal energy storage in sand batteries or mineral recovery.
The circular economy project will produce transparent mining data on the quantity, quality, and suitability of various side streams for potential new partners. The project is based on strategic cooperation with the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, forming the scientific, technological and international foundation of the ecosystem.
Kemi as the pilot site – aiming to expand to other mines in Lapland
The model to be built in the project will first be tested and validated at the Kemi mine, after which it is intended to be applied to other mining areas in Lapland and eventually more widely to Europe. The goal is a long-term collaboration model in which mining, SMEs, research, and public sectors work together.
“We want to create a functional and permanent mining industry ecosystem in the Lapland region, where mine side streams are systematically utilized, and where we are known as a pioneer in responsible mining and the circular economy also outside Finland’s borders. The project is funded by the Regional Council of Lapland’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which is why the aim of the solutions to be developed is to make them replicable and applicable in other areas as well,” says Ida Paaso from the Lapland Mining Hub project.
The ecosystem seeks both domestic and international partners, especially in the fields of technology, processing, and material solutions. Local value creation and jobs are at the core, but expertise is also sought outside Finland’s borders – for 2026, primarily from Nordic operators who benefit from the proximity of Kemi.