Kalevala Gold Projects, Finland
Country Overview
Our partnership in Kalevala Gold Oy, Finland (“Kalevala”) is Deccan Gold’s first foray into a country that has wide recognition as a Tier 1 mining jurisdiction.
Finland, a northern European social democracy, has a population of about 5.6 million people. Most of the population lives in the capital city, Helsinki, where citizens enjoy some of the highest standards of living in the world including a well-developed welfare system that encompasses free education and universal healthcare.
The country has significant mineral resources including gold, iron, chromium, copper, and nickel and produces approximately 9 tonnes of gold per annum (cf. 1 t of gold per annum by India).
In the latest survey of mining company directors by the Fraser Institute (https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/ annual-survey-of-mining-companies-2023), Finland ranks 17th (of 86) in the investment attractiveness index (cf. India at 69/86). Finland’s consistently high rankings in this annual survey reflect the well-defined processes and encouraging policies of the government.
There is a clear pathway for securing exploration and mining tenure, exploration, and eventual development of mines. In recent years, Finland’s ranking has dropped from 2nd (in 2019) due to perceptions of increasing environmental conditions and obligations in this pristine country. This is not considered an issue for Deccan Gold due to our absolute commitment to social and environmental sustainability.
Our Projects
| License name | License code | License type | Status | Decision date | Area (Ha) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Kelokorpi |
ML2011:0079 |
Exploration |
Extension Pending |
|
590.08 |
|
Syrjälä |
ML2013:0005 |
Exploration |
Extension Pending |
|
175.53 |
|
Syrjälä 2 |
ML2013:0052 |
Exploration |
Granted |
02/03/2023 |
279.55 |
|
Syrjälä 3 |
ML2013:0082 |
Exploration |
Granted |
02/03/2023 |
294.4 |
|
Vasonniemi |
ML2015:0002 |
Exploration |
Granted |
02/03/2023 |
850.13 |
|
Kuikankulta 2 |
ML2018:0078 |
Exploration |
Granted |
02/03/2023 |
38.43 |
|
Pahkalampi |
ML2023:0103 |
Exploration |
Pending* |
|
|
|
Kuikankulta |
KL2016:0005 |
Mining |
Hearings* |
|
|
|
Total |
|
|
|
|
2228.12 |
* Area of licence is subject to final grant conditions and will be updated in later communications.
Geological Setting
All Kalevala Project areas are situated in the highly prospective Greenstone belts in the Karelian Province that contain historical gold mining activity. The Syrala Project area and Kelorpi tenements lie over the Suomussalmi Greenstone Belt with Kelokorpi situated further to the south-east on the Hattu Schist Belt .
Syrjälä Project
The Syrjälä Project is the most advanced of our exploration projects in Finland. The Project area comprises 5 contiguous exploration tenements and the mining licence application (Figure 19).
The Syrjälä project is underlain by basic to intermediate volcanic rocks with minor ultramafic units including basaltic and tholeiitic lavas. Within the basalts are agglomerates and volcanic breccias. Mineralisation occurs in narrow mylonitic alteration zones and is associated with garnet, biotite, quartz, and sulphides.
Previous work including geophysical surveys, trenching, soils sampling, and drilling by the Finland Geological Survey (GTK) and our partners, Mineral Exploration Network (MEN), has identified 4 gold deposits (Figure 20) that require further testing and evaluation:
- The most promising deposit, Kuikka is the location of the mining lease application.
- Syrjälä North
- Syrjälä South
- Vasonniemi
At Kuikka, exploration drilling (Figure 21) has defined an Exploration Target which indicates potential for a resource ranging from 80,000 to 150,000 tonnes grading between 4 and 12 g/t Au to a depth of 150m below surface with further potential for mineralisation to extend below this depth. A 130t bulk sample collected from a trench at Kuikki yielded 591g of gold in dore bar and another 450g of gold in fine gravity concentrate.
During 2026, Kalevala is preparing to complete a trial mine on the Kuikka deposit. The Company is planning to excavate about 7,000t of ore containing 1,500 to 2,500 ounces of gold. Ore will be processed through a pilot plant the company will construct on-site.
The trial mine is expected to provide valuable information about the short-scale continuity and structural setting of the gold mineralization and confirm the metallurgical characteristics of the ore before Kalevala undertake more extensive and deeper drilling to define the full extent of the economic mineralisation.
Deccan Gold will provide funding for the trial mine and profits will be used to define the Mineral Resource and complete techno-economic studies to assess the viability of a larger-scale underground mining operation.
Pahkalampi Prospect
Once the licence has been granted, Kalevala will:
- Acquire the drill hole database.
- Review core logging and resample core on selected intervals.
- Construct a 3D model with a view to declaring a Mineral Resource to international standards.
- Undertake preliminary techno-economic studies on the revised resource model.
- If applicable and subject to the above, apply for a mining licence over the prospect.
Kelokorpi Project
The three styles of gold mineralisation identified in the Project area are:
- A high-grade unit with grades over 10g/t where mineralisation is controlled by quartz veins within a sheared tonalite intrusion (Figure 26). This unit is characterised by the presence of extensive quartz-carbonate veining accompanied by silicification, chloritisation and the presence of ankerite. The tonalitic unit is intensively sheared as exhibited by the propensity for biotite to form a foliated texture. There is also the presence of pyrite and pyrrhotite disseminated throughout the silicified unit.
- A secondary mineralised unit with grades ranging from 0.3 to 2.0 g/t exhibits a highly silicified interval (averaging 10m) with the presence of extensive sulphidisation, with the presence of numerous narrow (<5cm) quartz veins with high concentrations of pyrite and pyrrhotite along with sulphide dissemination throughout the full interval.
During 2025, Kelavala is proposing to continue soil sampling and drilling activities at the Project to test strike and dip extensions to known mineralisation trends (Figure 27), namely:
- Shallow RC drilling on 200-meter spaced fences across identified soil anomalies.
- Extend 50-meter spacing, base-of-till (“BOT”) soil sampling south west of the identified soil anomalies.
- Assess potential dip extensions of the high-grade mineralisation to 150 meters below surface with oriented core on selected drill fences.
