Finland's Terrafame will start recovering natural uranium as a byproduct of zinc and nickel production at its Sotkamo mine by mid 2024.
The miner, in which the Finnish state has a 67.1% stake and commodities trader Trafigura holds a 31.1% interest, is aiming to produce 200 tonnes per year by 2026, it said on Wednesday.
Terrafame, formerly known as Talvivaara, intends to refine the uranium into yellowcake, used as fuel for nuclear power plants. The commodity has so far been waste from processing the metals extracted at Sotkamo. These include nickel and cobalt sulphates for electric vehicle (EV) batteries as well as other minerals.
"As the recovery begins, Terrafame will become a Finnish uranium producer, and thus will also play a role in building Europe's energy self-sufficiency," CEO Joni Lukkaroinen said in the statement.
"The utilization of Terrafame's natural uranium in energy production helps in achieving climate goals since nuclear power does not result in carbon dioxide emissions in the production process. As an energy source, it is stable," Lukkaroinen said.
Europe's only uranium recovery operation
The company has a ready-built uranium recovery plant on site, which it says will be Europe's only uranium recovery operation. It will increase its net sales by about 25 million euros (US$27 million) per year, from 378 million euros (US$401 million) in 2021, it said.
Terrafame, one of Europe's largest nickel miners, churned out about 28,600 tonnes of nickel and 54,400 tonnes of zinc last year. It also began producing battery chemicals from its own minerals at its northeastern Finland mine.
The Finnish government authorized uranium production in 2020, but environmental organizations took the decision to court as they feared the effects it would have on the environment.
Before uranium recovery at Sotkamo can be commissioned, the country's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (Stuk) will have to verify that the company's operations are in line with the principles of the Nuclear Energy Act.