Its mining business, Talvivaara Sotkamo, went bankrupt in November 2014, and it is bound for liquidation, with at least 98% of equity lost, and €1.4 million debt outstanding.

The mining rights were eventually obtained by Outokumpu Corporation, which sold them at a nominal price of two euros to a former employee, Pekka Perä.

[15] The family of Paula Lehtomäki (mother, husband and two underaged children) acquired Talvivaara stock a few weeks before the announcement of uranium production plans.

[22][23] The official receiver tried to negotiate a financing method for the reorganization,[24] and published the proposal for a company voluntary arrangement at the end of September 2014.

In contrast, in bioheap leaching, the oxidation of sulfides causes eventual disintegration of the porous rock, exposing more area than achievable by chemical means only.

[36] A railway track was built in order to transport the nickel-cobalt concentrate to a Norilsk Nickel smeltery in Harjavalta, Finland.

[citation needed] Based on stock exchange regulations according to the Courts of appeal in Finland Pekka Perä gave misleading information about Talvivaara mining production volume in 2012 and 2013.

[45][46] MEPs Sirpa Pietikäinen and Satu Hassi initiated a European Commission investigation in June 2012 into Talvivaara's compliance with EU directives on mining waste.

[49][50] The Government of Finland responded in October 2012 with the conclusion that the local state authority, the Kainuu ELY Centre, has adequately monitored Talvivaara's operations.

The mining firm posted a 4.3 million euro loss in the third quarter of 2012, blaming weak output and low nickel prices.

[53] With warmer spring weather, this holding pond recently leaked an estimated 250,000 cubic meters of contaminated liquid into the environment again.

[56] The mining company's CEO Harri Natunen stated that "We have [a] legally mandated liability insurance that covers expenses if we're unable to pay".

Local weather conditions have continued to improve, which should allow work crews to carefully inspect the repairs, and provide evidence based evaluations of the current situation.

Preventative aerial application of lime has commenced, to curtail the spread of the toxic metal plume in the naturally acidic soil of the region.

[58] On 15 November 2012, the original CEO, Pekka Perä, returned to the post to stabilize the situation,[1] and pledged to cover all the damages caused by the leak, and not sell his own stock in the mine.

[61] While winter repairs had been stabilized by freezing temperatures, recent spring weather has allowed more contaminated liquid to escape from the holding pond.

Releasing such a large amount of contaminated waste water into the environment would help take pressure off from the pond's containment structure, which has softened as a consequence of the recent spring thaw.

It is presently not clear if the mining company will wait for the integrity of the pond to fail in a catastrophic way, or if they will move ahead with an unauthorized release of waste water.

The regional office of the Finnish Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centre) has apparently adopted a wait and see policy, as its mandate to monitor both economic development in the area and environmental concerns seem to be at odds, and such internal confusion tends to limit the ability of ELY to make such important decisions.

On 12 April 2013, Talvivaara Mining Company submitted another application to release additional quantities of waste water into the local environment.

The mine was previously expected to restart no sooner than that summer, but the amount of leaked liquid was sufficient to advance the schedule by several months.

There was no public mention of creating larger or additional holding ponds at this point, nor the possibility of simply cutting back on production.

[56][70] The government agency Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) determined that the individual metal plumes released into Lumijoki are concentrated enough to potentially cause local fish kills far downstream.

[75] The Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Authority (STUK) reported uranium levels 3.5 times higher than the recommended limit of 100 micrograms per liter, but not high enough to be acutely dangerous to humans.

[80] In September 2014, four directors including the current and former CEO were charged with an aggravated environmental offense, which carries a sentence of four months to six years imprisonment.

[83] Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and Greenpeace Nordic were invited to take part in the demonstration, and they both had a word in the citizen forum, as guests speakers of Stop Talvivaara.

In November 2012, Finland's largest environmental NGO, the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, called for government intervention in the matter.

The previous government established local ELY centres, which are responsible for employment and economic policy, transport and environmental monitoring.

Thus, the local environmental agencies, which were previously governed independently, were placed under the jurisdiction of an officer responsible to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy.

It revealed that Talvivaara had intentionally pumped unneutralized, highly acidic metal solution into the gypsum pond, which was intended only for neutralized tailings.