Those of you who have followed Northland’s mining development enterprise in Tornio Valley know that we explored several different options regarding how to deliver the ore from Kaunisvaara. By the end of 2010 the board decided that we would use Narvik as our shipping port. The port in Narvik is ice-free all year round, and it allows for higher capacity vessels than the alternative in Kemi, Finland.

Willy Sundling, Head of Logistics at Northland and the person in charge of the port project, is pleased with how the planning and preparations stages of the construction have progressed.

He says, “Narvik has welcomed us with open arms. Their inviting attitude has enabled us to get started in a temporary facility. Communication with authorities in the permit acquisition process has also worked quite well. We are careful to tread lightly. This will be a long-lasting relationship. They have to be comfortable with us in order for this to work with our operation.”

In just a short time he has assembled a working organization in Narvik. Now that the actual construction stage has begun, 60+ people are directly involved in the work on site.

The total investment to establish a full-scale transport solution between the reloading station in Pitkäjärvi and the port in Fagernäs comes down to ca. 1.3 billion Swedish Kronor (approx. 190 million USD).

As Head of Logistics, Willy Sundling is not only responsible for the port in Fagernäs, but for the entire system all the way from Kaunisvaara. This includes transport by road the first part of the way leading up to Pitkäjärvi. A solution for this part has been devised and is currently being evaluated together with the Swedish Transport Administration, who recently granted permission for trial runs with heavier vehicles.

Willy Sundling

Project Manager -- Logistics for the Kaunisvaara and Hannukainen Projects

Willy Sundling enjoys the challenge of solving how to transport the Tornio Valley ore. It is obviously very important for Northland’s mining enterprise, but it has also given rise to an unprecedented effort to better the infrastructure of the region.

“Pretty much every single transport solution before this one has been directed from north-to-south. It’s refreshing to be working in an east-to-west direction for once”, he says.

The first ship carrying Tornio Valley ore fines is scheduled for departure the first quarter of 2013.