The mine produced 7.9 million tonnes (Mt) of ore containing nickel, copper, gold, platinum and palladium in 2017.
Boliden announced a $92.8m expansion plan for Kevitsa in February 2018 to ramp up production to 9.5Mt per year from 2021. Mining at Kevista is expected to continue until 2033.
Kevitsa mineral reserves
Kevitsa mine was estimated to contain proven reserves of 71.4Mt of ore grading 0.21% nickel, 0.34% copper, 0.10% gold, 0.19% platinum, 0.12% palladium, and 0.010% cobalt, as of December 2017.
The probable reserves were estimated to be 62.4Mt of ore grading 0.24% nickel, 0.34% copper, 0.10% gold, 0.21% platinum, 0.14% palladium and 0.010% cobalt.
Mining at Kevitsa
Kevitsa employs conventional open-pit mining method involving operation drilling, blasting, loading and hauling with the use of hydraulic excavators for ore extraction, and trucks for transportation.
The Kevitsa ore deposit is planned to be mined in four stages. The second phase mining is currently underway with the pit depth being 500m.
Kevitsa produced 29,957t of copper and 13,777t of nickel in concentrates in 2017.
