Scientific Experiments
Pyhäsalmi mine has been home to many experiments during its history. First scientific experiments were already conducted in the mid 1990´s. The deep underground mine provides excellent shielding from cosmic rays and the early research topics have been related astroparticle physics. The scientific work, started with physics research, has now expanded to research projects in multiple fields including biology, geosciences, chemistry, mining technology and underground construction and architecture.
The research and piloting did not limit to the underground mine, but also the tailings area has been successfully deployed for research
FUTURE
The unique research infrastructure provides possibilities that we don´t even know yet. What kind of research arrangements do You have in mind?
The Pyhäsalmi mine environment has provided home for scientific research, in various fields, techology testing and facilitations and providing facilites and support service for industrial operators.
For commercial operations please contact Pyhäjärven Callio Callio for more details.
For scientific and R&I Callio Lab please follow the link below to contact us. For new experimental proposal follow the link below to download a propose an experiment -document.
CURRENT
Horizon Europe project MINE.IO
MINE.IO is a €14 million EU-funded Horizon Europe research and innovation project developing a Holistic Digital Mine 4.0 Ecosystem to transform the mining sector through digitalisation, sustainability and automation. The initiative aims to build an open, cloud-based industrial digital infrastructure that integrates Industry 4.0 technologies such as AI, IoT, robotics, digital twins and data analytics across the entire mining value chain—from exploration and extraction to processing, waste management and post-mining rehabilitation—enhancing operational efficiency, safety and environmental performance while fostering data sharing and collaboration among stakeholders. The project’s solutions are being validated through seven pilot use cases in multiple EU countries, demonstrating scalable innovations that support sustainable, low-impact mining and contribute to Europe’s strategic digital and green transition.
Horizon Europe project KINETIKA
KINETIKA is an EU-funded research and innovation project that explores how advanced sensing, digital technologies, and interdisciplinary research can support the preservation, monitoring, and sustainable reuse of cultural heritage assets. By combining expertise from physics, engineering, social sciences, and cultural history, KINETIKA develops and tests novel, non-invasive methods in real heritage pilots, strengthening evidence-based conservation practices while fostering collaboration between researchers, heritage professionals, and society.
PAST
The activities in the Pyhäsalmi Mine started under the Centre for Underground Physics in Pyhäsalmi, CUPP. Since 2001, the depth and time-dependence were measured with a cosmic-ray experiment MUG. The experiment was carried out by Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory of the University of Oulu and Turku University. In the years 2003-2005, the measurements of depth dependency of muon flux were continued with the MUD-experiment. Measurements of background (such as radon, neutron and gamma) have been carried out in specific locations.
H2020 GoldenEye project
The GoldenEye project was a Horizon 2020–funded European research initiative that developed and demonstrated advanced monitoring solutions for the mining sector. It integrated Earth observation data, in-situ sensing, and data analytics to improve mine safety, operational efficiency, and environmental monitoring across the mining lifecycle, including the post-mining phase.
The Pyhäsalmi mine in Finland served as a key pilot site, where GoldenEye technologies were tested and validated under real underground and surface conditions within the Callio Lab research environment. The pilots showed how existing mining infrastructure and long-term datasets could be used to verify new sensing methods and support more sustainable and responsible mining practices.
EMMA
EMMA – Experiment with a MultiMuon Array – consists of an apparatus to study the composition of cosmic ray induced muon particles. The experiment was located at the depth of 75 m (corresponding to 240 metres water equivalent m.w.e.). The array consisted of eleven detector stations of an area of 15 square meters each. Three of the stations (C, F, G) were so called tracking stations with three layers of position sensitive drift chambers and a layer of small-size plastic scintillation detectors.
The experiment was maintained in cooperation between the Universities of Oulu, Jyväskylä and Aarhus, and Institutes of Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
The drift chambers were originally designed for the DELPHI experiment of the LEP accelerator at CERN. The scintillation detectors are designed specifically for EMMA to improve the multiplicity measurement and they are manufactured by RAS/INR, Moscow.
C14
The collaboration behind C14-experiment included the Universities of Oulu and Jyväskylä and the Russian Academy of Sciences. The experiment was a measurement apparatus to study the radioactive purity of liquid scintillator samples in respect with the concentration of 14C isotope in an oil-based liquid scintillator.
The C14 Experiment was used to test samples from several major neutrino detector laboratories such as Laboratorio Nazionale del Gran Sasso, SNOLAB or JianPing Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO). The goal of the experiment was to push the detection limit of 14C concentrations down to 10E-20 or less.
The instrument for the concentration measurements required an extremely low-background environment and components and it was situated in Lab 2 at the depth of 1 430 meters and later in Lab 5 at 1410.
The instrument consisted of a liquid scintillator sample of 1.6 liters, two light guides and photomultiplier tubes. They are surrounded by thick layers of pure copper and lead as radiation shielding against gamma radiation. In addition, the instrument stays in constant compressed air/ nitrogen flow to reduce radon background.
