The opening of the Suurikuusikko gold mine in Kittilä in Finnish Lapland appears likely, after the Canadian mining company Agnico-Eagle acquired 97% of the shares of the Swedish company Riddarhyttan Resources. Ownership of Riddarhyttan will go to Agnico from the beginning of next year.
Agnico-Eagle CEO Sean Boyd said on Wednesday in Kittilä that construction of the gold mine could begin already next summer, if an environmental permit comes through as planned. Actual mining operations could begin in the summer of 2007.
The mine is expected to bring more than 200 jobs to the municipality of Kittilä, which is straining under considerable economic difficulties.
The Canadian company plans to spend about eight million dollars for the investigation and analysis of the gold deposits in the area.
In May, Agnico offered shareholders of Riddarhyttan to exchange all of the company’s shares for stock in Agnico.
Agnico offered 0.1137 of its own shares for each Riddarhyttan share. The deadline of the offer was extended twice before a majority of the owners of Riddarhyttan agreed to sell.
Agnico says that it is interested in the Suurikuusikko mine because the gold deposits there are easily accessible. Samples taken in the past seven years have yielded such good results that the mine could prove to be the biggest gold mine in Europe.
Riddarhyttan postponed a decision on setting up the mine several times because of the low world market price for gold. The price of an ounce of gold is currently about 450 dollars.
