Päivi M. Kauppila

• Ph.D.
• Chief Expert at Geological Survey of Finland

The increasing demand for raw materials has led to a shift in focus towards extractive waste sites as potential sources of secondary resources. The Future Availability of Secondary Raw Materials (FutuRaM) project, funded by the Horizon Europe programme, is investigating secondary raw materials in Europe. The FutuRaM knowledge base is poised to beco...

Finnish extractive waste sites have apparent potential as secondary resources of critical raw materials. However, notable uncertainties exist concerning reliable resource estimation and raw materials beneficiation. Resource estimation will be improved in the near future as the resource potential of several extractive waste sites is assessed in EU a...

Cemented paste backfill (CPB) is used as a support and filler material in underground mines. In underground conditions, before mine closure and flooding, surface and groundwaters with variable quality are in contact with CPB material, which may result in the leaching of harmful substances from the CPB. In this study, we used actual mine water from...

The objective of this study was to investigate the use of the acid production potential (AP) calculation factor and seven different S analysis methods in the preliminary mine waste characterization by analyzing and comparing 48 Finnish mine waste samples. Special attention was paid on mineralogical aspects and data produced in the exploration phase...

Current Finnish practices in waste rock characterization may result in improper drainage quality prediction. In this paper, we present a case study involving such inadequate predictions. Our results demonstrated that the waste rock materials with relatively low contents of harmful elements and S can still produce poor-quality drainage, and the wast...

A commonly-used method in ore exploration is hydrogen peroxide ammonium citrate (HA) extraction, which has not typically been used in waste rock characterization. In this study, the sulfide specificity and leaching of other minerals in HA extraction was evaluated and its performance was compared with the aqua regia (AR) extraction for preliminary a...

The mobility of contaminants from mine waste can be assessed using different extraction methods. Aqua regia (AR) extraction is the most commonly used method in Finland. Another method is the analysis of leachate from net acid generation (NAG) tests, which is primarily designed for acid production potential assessment. We investigated the performanc...

The fundamental understanding of hydrogeochemical processes leading to toxic drainage in mining environments is of utmost importance to predict the impact of mining activities in waste facilities and to design effective measures for the mitigation of environmental risk. This study investigates the weathering behavior of different types of mine wast...

The characterisation of extractive waste is already essential in the early phases of a mining project. The short-and long-term behaviour of extractive waste should be assessed to design appropriate extractive waste facilities and water management, and to evaluate the possibilities for waste material utilisation. The objective of this study was to o...

Mining generates large amounts of mineral waste materials, the utilisation of which should be increased to meet society’s need for raw materials. Detailed knowledge of the properties of extractive wastes is the starting point for their extended utilisation. The long-term behaviour of extractive waste materials can be predicted with kinetic tests. I...

In mining activities, management of mine wastes is a critical issue as improper waste disposal often results in liability for mining operators with the risk of financial consequences. Of primary concern is the low quality drainage from mine waste that leads to adverse effects on the surrounding environments and ecosystem. This drainage usually resu...

Kauppila, P. M. & Tarvainen, T. (eds) 2018. Improving the environmental properties, utilisation potential and long-term prediction of mining wastes. Geological Survey of Finland, Bulletin 408, 108 pages, 50 figures and 17 tables. One of the key issues in modern mining is the sustainable management of extractive wastes. The key challenges related t...

Muniruzzaman, M., Karlsson, T. & Kauppila, P. M. 2018. Modelling tools for the prediction of drainage quality from mine wastes. Geological Survey of Finland, Bulletin 408, 27-42, 7 figures and 2 tables. The weathering of mine wastes often leads to low quality drainage typically characterised by acidic pH and elevated concentrations of dissolved m...

Kauppila, P. M., Taskinen, A., Korhonen, T., Kurhila, M. & Tiljander, M. 2018. Case study: influence of polyacrylamide based processing chemical on the environmental properties of arsenic containing tailings of the Kuikka 2 gold deposit. Geological Survey of Finland, Bulletin 408, 83-96, 8 figures and 3 tables. The use of a polyacrylamide based c...

honen, T. 2018. Improving the environmental properties of arsenic and sulphide rich Kopsa Au-Cu ore tailings through optimised mineral processing. Geological Survey of Finland, Bulletin 408, 59-82, 19 figures and 4 tables. Mineral processing methods were applied to improve the environmental properties of Kopsa Au-Cu ore tailings containing arseni...

Kauppila, P. M., Lehtonen, M. & Heino, N. 2018. Optimisation of raw material potential and environmental properties of tailings: an operational model. Geological Survey of Finland, Bulletin 408, 97-108, 6 figures. Constant increase in the amounts of mining wastes and the growing need of raw materials requires activities to improve material eco-ef...

Mining generates large amounts of waste materials, since only a small part of excavated ores is usually utilized. Waste disposal requires large areas, is costly and may mean squander of natural resources, if only the most obvious commodities are utilized. The objective of the KaiHaMe project is to assess ways to increase raw material value of ores...

Choosing right management methods is essential for efficient closure and design of mining waste facilities. To assess potential effects of mine closure activities to waste rock drainage quality at the Hitura Ni-Cu mine in Finland, a surface water investigation and filled-in lysimeter tests were performed. According to the results, current environme...

This report provides a literature based review of performance monitoring of dry cover system with an emphasis on criteria pertinent to cold climate regions. The report also provides construction details for case study pilot cover systems. The report was composed as part of the Min-North project (2016-2018), which is a trans-national research proje...

Proper characterisation is needed to predict the long term behaviour of mine waste material and to successfully close a waste facility. The objective of this study was to compare the performance of commonly used prediction methods with the actual seepage water quality from closed or active mine sites. This was carried out by characterising waste ro...

The Ministry of Employment and the Economy (TEM) has recently published a guide on the environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure for mining projects in Finland. The TEM guide focuses on the process of EIA application to mining projects. The current report was planned to provide supporting material for the TEM guide, and is a review of good pr...

The purpose of the Environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure is to generate information on the environmental impacts of a project, facilitate the consideration of environmental issues in planning and decision-making processes, and give the public and other stakeholders opportunities to participate in and affect these processes. An EIA must be...

Ympäristövaikutusten arviointimenettely (YVA) tuottaa tietoa hankkeen ympäristövaikutuksista, edistää ympäristönäkökohtien huomioon ottamista suunnittelussa ja päätöksenteossa sekä lisää alueen asukkaiden ja muiden tahojen osallistumis- ja vaikutusmahdollisuuksia. Menettelyä sovelletaan niihin kaivoshankkeisiin, joista voi aiheutua merkittäviä hait...

Talvivaaran kaivoksella marraskuussa 2012 sattuneen vesistövahingon jälkeen Suomen hallitus päätti, että kaivoksille tehdään stressitestit. Ympäristöministeriö asetti tammikuussa 2013 kaivosten ympäristöturvallisuus -viranomaistyöryhmän (KYTU), jonka tehtävänä oli arvioida viranomaisten tehtäviä, toimivaltaa, ohjauskeinoja ja yhteistyötä kaivosten...

The sustainable use of natural resources is one of the biggest challenges of the present day. Recycling of the waste from extractive industry aims to fulfill this objective. Potential for recycling and usage is higher if the waste is inert. The background to this project and the need to create a list of inert rock types lies in the European mining...

The paper summarises the results of a study by the Geological Survey of Finland on the potential use of waste rocks from natural stone quarry production. Petrographic, chemical, mechanical and physical tests were undertaken on granite, rapakivi granite, migmatite, syenite, diorite, gabbro, anorthosite gabbro, schist and soapstone from 33 dimension...

Contaminative drainage from mine sites, and particularly from mine waste deposits, may pose risks to surface waters. Therefore, mine site risk assessment and manage - ment require knowledge of the whole series of processes from mine drainage forma - tion to contaminant transport and the eventual ecological effects. This paper summa - rizes some of...

In the present study, eight rock samples were analysed with a modified acid-base accounting (ABA) test and the corresponding net acid generation (NAG) test. In addition, the main and trace elements solubilised during the tests were determined with ICPOES/MS. Both the modified ABA and NAG tests classified the rock samples with a lowsulphide-S conten...

Redistribution of potentially harmful metals and As was studied based on selective extractions in two active sulphide mine tailings impoundments in Finland. The Hitura tailings area contains residue from Ni ore processing, while the Luikonlahti site includes tailings from the processing of Cu–Co–Zn–Ni and talc ores. To characterize the element soli...

Weathering of Hitura (W Finland) nickel sulphide mine tailings and release of heavy metals into pore water was studied with mineralogical (optical and electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction) and geochemical methods (selective extractions). Tailings were composed largely of serpentine, micas and amphiboles with only minor carbonates and sulphides. S...

Seepage water and drainage water geochemistry (pH, EC, O2, redox, alkalinity, dissolved cations and trace metals, major anions, total element concentrations) were studied at two active sulphide mine tailings impoundments in Finland (the Hitura Ni mine and Luikonlahti Cu mine/talc processing plant). The data were used to assess the factors influenci...

Europe once was the most important mining region in the world and nearly every European country has remnants of historic and even pre-historic mining sites. Though the importance of mining activities in most European countries declines, the abandoned sites are still there and can cause environmental dangers as well as technological challenges. On t...

Tailings-derived mine drainage water that is neutral in character, has a high electrical conductivity and contains elevated sulphate, chloride and nickel concentrations, has caused deterioration in groundwater and surface water quality in the mining area of Hitura in Western Finland. This deterioration, and thereby the location of the contaminant p...