6,100 7,400 7,000 ' 8,000 
 428 527 611 600 
 143,302 145,131 160,865 170,000 
 31,567 23,740 17,559 20,000 
 57,894 59,939 66,116 70,000 
 14,679 11,087 8,200 10,000 
 r1278 1,227 1,296 11,197 
 892 985 922 800 
See footnotes at end of table.  329The Mineral Industry of 
Finland 
By Joseph B. Huvos1 
 
 
 In 1979 Finland's gross domestic product was boosted by 7% to $47 billion2'
by a 10% increase in exports, mainly forestry products, but the level of
activities in mining and quarrying was not significantly changed. Mining
and quarrying contributed to about 1.5% to the gross national product. The
entire mineral industry, including processing of mineral and other manufacturing,
contributed about 31%. Inflation was down to under 8%, and efforts were focused
on lowering the 6.2% unemployment rate. 
 There were several important events in the Finnish mineral industry. Operations
started at Outokumpu Oy's Vammala metal mine, Rautaruukki Oy's Mustavaara

iron ore-vanadium pentoxide mine, the Olikluoto nuclear powerplant, and at
a dolomite mine. Rautaruukki Oy continued construction under contract at
the Kostamus mine in the U.S.S.R., from which it was to receive iron pellets;
construction also continued at Kemira Oy's Siilinjärvi apatite mine.

 In order to replenish the diminishing reserves of ores and minerals, the
Ministry for Trade and Industry has launched a 3year prospecting competition,
as a result of which several promising ore deposits have been found, mostly
in central and eastern Finland, in particular at Pielavesi, Keitele, Kiuruvesi,
and Rautavaara. The deposits contain iron, nickel, copper and chromium. 
 
PRODUCTION AND TRADE 
 
Production of mineral commodities in 
1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979 is shown in table 
1. For the third consecutive year Finland 
ran a trade and a current account surplus. 
The U.S.S.R., Sweden, and the United King- 
dom were the country's largest trading partners. Finland's mineral commodity
trade in 1977 and 1978 are shown in tables 2 and 3. 
 
Table 1.—.Finland: Production of mineral commodities 
(Metric tons unless otherwise specified) 
 
Commodity 1976 1977 1978' 1979e 
METALS 
Aluminum matal,secondary_________________________ 
Cadmiummetal,refined____________________________ 
Chromium: Chromite: 
Gross weight: 
Concentrate________________________________ 
Foundry sand_______________________________ 
Cr20, content: 
Concentrate________________________________ 
Foundry sand_______________________________ 
Cobalt: 
Mineoutput,metalcontent__________________ 
Metal, refined_________________________________