Plans for the European Union’s first diamond mine in eastern Finland are moving forward after a court resolved a land dispute with local farmers.
Irish exploration company Karelian Diamond Resources has announced that the Lahtojoki diamond deposit contains a significant percentage of pink diamonds.
A recent court decision addressed appeals from two landowners regarding compensation amounts and adjustments to the mine’s boundaries. Finnish authorities have already granted Karelian a mining concession for the deposit.
Karelian Diamond Resources believes that developing the Lahtojoki mine will bring substantial benefits to both the company and the surrounding Kuopio-Kaavi region.
Once operational, the Lahtojoki diamond mine will become the first diamond mine within the European Union.
In a 2017 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), Karelian estimated the Lahtojoki deposit’s value at $225 million, with a net present value (NPV) of $39 million and a projected nine-year mine life, based on a non-JORC resource of 2.25 million carats.
