Talvivaaran Kaivososakeyhtiö Oyj - Company Announcement

Talvivaara Mining Company Plc was granted an environmental permit decision relating to water discharges by the Northern Finland Regional State Administrative Agency

Stock Exchange Release
Talvivaara Mining Company Plc
31 May 2013


   Talvivaara was granted an environmental permit decision relating to water
                                 discharges by
           the Northern Finland Regional State Administrative Agency
   Volume quota on water discharges removed, restrictions based on amount of
                                  contaminants


Talvivaara Mining Company Plc ("Talvivaara" or the "Company") announces that its
operating  subsidiary,  Talvivaara  Sotkamo  Ltd,  has  today  received from the
Northern  Finland Regional State Administrative  Agency ("AVI") an environmental
permit  decision relating to  the storage, treatment  and discharge of waters to
the Oulujoki and Vuoksi water systems.

The   permit  decision  contains  regulations  pertaining  to,  amongst  others,
treatment and storage of waters and permit limits for discharges into downstream
water ways. The permit decision removes the annual 1.3 Mm(3) discharge quota for
purified  waste  waters,  which  has  in  part caused the accumulation of excess
waters   at   the  mine  site.  The  permit  conditions  pertaining  to  maximum
concentrations  of  harmful  substances,  among  others  sulphate,  and  maximum
discharge flow rate will however restrict the volume of discharged waters in the
future.

The  permit decision requires the  Company to direct the  water contained in the
existing gypsum ponds to neutralisation or back to leach solution circulation by
31 October   2013. Talvivaara   is   also  required  to  supply  the  permitting
authorities  with several clarifications regarding,  among others, the reduction
of water management related risks and prevention of environmental contamination.

According  to the Company's preliminary assessment, the permit decision includes
certain   conditions,   which   are   restrictive  in  view  of  the  prevailing
circumstances  and  compliance  with  these  conditions  requires changes to the
current water management plan. However, mining operations at the Kuusilampi open
pit  can continue within the conditions set  by the permit and the decision does
not impact operations at the metals recovery plant.

The  permit decision was granted the commencement right by AVI and therefore the
Company  can commence  operating in  accordance with  the decision regardless of
appeal.  Talvivaara will continue to familiarize itself with the permit decision
and  updates its water  management plan to  correspond to the permit conditions.
Based  on  the  Company's  preliminary  view,  AVI's decision does not allow the
Company to alleviate the risk level resulting from the challenging water balance
situation  at the Talvivaara mine  site at the pace  desired by the Company, and
the  Company thus considers appealing against parts of the permit decision where
considered necessary.

In  accordance  with  the  permit  decision,  AVI  will  process  the claims for
compensation  relating to  potential damages  caused by  Talvivaara's operations
later.  Talvivaara will  however place  a EUR  1,500,000 guarantee for potential
compensations  set  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of the principle of
caution.  AVI  has  also  requested  the  Company  to  investigate  whether  any
recoverable  damages have occurred and to prepare a proposal on the compensation
of potential damages.

AVI  continues  to  process  the  applications  for  the  update of Talvivaara's
environmental  permit  and  the  environmental  permit for uranium recovery. The
Company  expects to receive these permit decisions  in the autumn of 2013 at the
earliest.

CEO  Pekka Perä comments:"The permit decision we have received from the Northern
Finland  Regional State Administrative Agency relating to the storage, treatment
and   discharge   of  waters  corresponds,  for  example  relating  to  sulphate
discharges,  to the level we applied for  in our notification of exception under
the  Environmental Protection Act  in February 2013. Whilst  the permit decision
corresponds  to our application  for this part,  it also includes multiple other
details,  the impact of which we will need  to clarify in further depth. The key
aspect,  however,  is  that  the  permit  decision  enables  the continuation of
production  at  Talvivaara  according  to  plan.  The permit also allows for the
continued  reduction of water management-related risks,  albeit at a slower pace
than we would have hoped for."

Enquiries:
Talvivaara Mining Company Plc Tel: +358 20 712 9800
Pekka Perä, CEO
Eeva Ruokonen, Chief Sustainability Officer

Talvivaara Mining Company Plc
Talvivaara Mining Company is an internationally significant base metals producer
with  its  primary  focus  on  nickel  and  zinc  using  a  technology  known as
bioheapleaching  to extract metals out  of ore. Bioheapleaching makes extraction
of  metals  from  low  grade  ore  economically  viable. The Talvivaara deposits
comprise  one of the largest known sulphide  nickel resources in Europe. The ore
body  is  estimated  to  support  anticipated  production  for  several decades.
Talvivaara has secured a 10-year off-take agreement for 100 per cent of its main
output  of nickel and cobalt to Norilsk Nickel and entered into a long-term zinc
streaming  agreement with Nyrstar  NV. Talvivaara is  listed on the London Stock
Exchange  Main Market and NASDAQ OMX  Helsinki. Further information can be found
at www.talvivaara.com.

[HUG#1706128]

Attachments:

Talvivaara environmental permit decision relating to water discharges.pdf