Agnico Eagle Finland

Kittilä is home to Europe’s largest gold mine with an annual production of approximately 7,000 kilos of gold. JIITEE Työt has carried out surface mesh and rock reinforcement work at the mine.

Project work in the middle of mining

Agnico Eagle Finland Oy is a subsidiary of Agnico Eagle Mines Limited in Canada. The company operates Europe’s largest gold mine in Kittilä and conducts active ore exploration not only in Finland but also in the other Nordic countries.

JIITEE Työt began work in the mine in early 2019 with wire bolting, and finally the work was carried out over a couple of years in different parts of the mine after the contract was expanded. The main stages of work included the construction of nets at the stone line and main level, as well as drilling.

One part was also the construction of finished walls, or so-called wind walls.

"In addition to the stone line and the main level networking, we did so-called equipment work. As mining progresses, air, water, and electricity must constantly accompany them. An important phase was the strengthening of the lower part of the lifting shaft, which was made to a depth of about one kilometer, as well as the reinforcement of ore silos in the form of bolting, mesh, and injection concrete,” says Janne Juntunen, CEO of JIITEE Työt.

Client of the contract

Agnico Eagle Finland Oy

Duration of the contract

From 2019 to 2021.

What work was done

construction of nets and reinforcement works

The works were carried out by our own personnel

Project-based work during such projects requires adaptation to the customer’s schedules and activities, and the mine was no exception.

”We were able to provide all the necessary services while the mining operations were in operation. It required planning, but fortunately our employees are used to different environments,” says Juntunen.

JIITEE Työt does not use subcontractors but implements the agreements with the help of its own staff. The company currently employs about a hundred people, which enables quick and flexible work."

Innovative and flexible work

"JIITEE Työt came to deliver surface mesh and rock reinforcement work in Kittilä after Agnico Eagle Finland was looking for new contractors for their various projects.

”We mapped out who offers us a suitable service and also received an offer from JIITEE Työt. They provided the services we needed,” says Kyösti Huttu, who was deputy project manager for the excavation project at the time JIITEE Työt carried out the project.

JIITEE Työt did a good job both technically and qualitatively. The occupational safety requirements in our mine were new to them in the beginning, and we developed occupational safety issues together.

For us, occupational safety and safe working methods are equally important, regardless of whether the work is carried out by the contractor or our own staff,” says Huttu."

We know how to take into account the requirements set by mines

"According to Huttu, the mining environment is not significantly different from the tunnel environment for civil construction, but the performance of the work must take into account the nature of mining and the priorities it sets as well as the guidelines and regulations related to the operation.

In a mining environment, you must always work to reconcile mining and the work of the contractor, in a small space, in such a way that production disruptions are not caused. Good cooperation is based on the contractor understanding the business technically, but above all from an occupational safety point of view,” says Huttu.

The cooperation between JIITEE Työt and Agnico Eagle Finland has continued after the first contract. According to Huttu, he can also recommend JIITEE Työt to others: "JIITEE Työt has innovative ideas, they are flexible enough and are open to dialogue. I didn’t get a bad picture of the work they did."

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We are ready to start working!

Mines are a familiar operating environment for us and we know how to take into account the requirements set by them. Thanks to our extensive personnel and equipment resources, we are able to work quickly and cost-effectively.