Nordic Talc Oy organized a resident and stakeholder survey regarding the Suomussalmi talc utilization project. The survey was conducted as an online survey in December 2024 and January 2025. A previous stakeholder survey was conducted for the project in September 2023 in connection with the EIA procedure. The resident and stakeholder survey is intended to be continued periodically in order to map the views of local people and other stakeholders, especially on the impacts caused by the project on people, and to hear, among other things, expectations and wishes for the implementation of project communication.
Based on the results of the recent survey, many respondents felt that there were no impacts yet, as the project is in such an early stage. Several of the respondents mentioned the importance of local cooperation and stakeholder cooperation already in the early stages of the project. Several respondents experienced the company’s public image and operations in the area positively, justifying their positive view, among other things, by the company’s operating methods and the consultation and consideration of local people in the company’s operations and related processes. Several respondents also justified their point of view by the company’s open communication.
In the survey responses, concerns about the impacts on water bodies, as well as, the impacts related to noise and light, and construction, were mentioned as negative impacts. Several respondents highlighted the securing of jobs in the area and the positive economic impact, which, according to the respondents, can locally impact into a positive attitude already at the time of the survey.
The survey now implemented can be used to develop both the survey itself and locally implemented stakeholder cooperation. Several respondents stated that surveys are a good addition to active interaction, and this should be done in the future as well.
