Opportunities underground

When we hear about underground activities, most of us think of mining activities and underground mines. This association is by no means wrong. However, the use of underground facilities for industrial, research, recreational or tourism purposes is less well known.

Many different ways of using underground facilities can be found around the world and also in Finland. Research in the field of physics is one of the most common uses globally. Other key uses of underground facilities include the final disposal of nuclear waste, tunnel construction and geothermal energy research. Among other things, you can grow mushrooms and crickets in underground facilities, test machines and instruments, study the colonisation of space, organise concerts, practise rescue activities and much more. What all these activities have in common is the use of underground facilities.

Depending on what is needed, underground facilities have been specifically designed and built for the activities in question, as part of larger civil engineering projects, or using existing mines and other underground facilities.

A good example of purpose-built facilities is the nuclear waste disposal site Onkalo in Olkiluoto. An underground physics laboratory in Canfranc, Spain, was built as part of the Somport tunnel. Several solutions implemented in mines can be found in Finland, including Callio in Pyhäjärvi, Outokumpu Mining Museum and Tytyri Experience Mine. The last two of these specialise in tourism.

The University of Oulu Kerttu Saalasti Institute and its Regional Excellence group study and develop the potential of underground facilities and the operators using them. The projects funded under the Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme led by the Institute focused on developing the functions, facilities and operating and service models of six underground laboratories in the Baltic Sea region. The stages of underground laboratories’ development vary greatly.

Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory in Sweden and Reiche Zeche mine used for research and education purposes in Freiberg, Germany, are the most advanced in terms of their operating and service models. Callio in Pyhäjärvi offers the largest and deepest mining infrastructure. Ruskeala Mining Park in Russian Karelia is an excellent example of how a mining environment can be used for tourism and recreation. It hosts 300,000 visitors each year. The underground research laboratory of the Khlopin Radium Institute in the metro tunnels of St. Petersburg, Russia, is the most highly specialised and easily accessible facility. In Poland, a model plan was drawn up for KGHM Cuprum, on the basis of which an underground research and RDI laboratory may be built in the future.

Our project partner in Switzerland, the privately owned Hagerbach Test Gallery, also deserves a mention. This set of caves belonging to the Amber corporation operates on a purely commercial basis. Its activities comprise test environments, educational opportunities, and experience and leisure activities alike.

The European Underground Laboratories Association was established to develop these six sites and also other underground facilities and operations in Europe. The marketing of underground opportunities and international cooperation in development projects are the cornerstones of the association's activities.

Extracting minerals or building tunnels are not the only things you can do underground. Underground laboratories and facilities create new opportunities for research, industrial activities, and tourism and recreation alike. The only direction from the bottom is up.

Jari Joutsenvaara, Project Manager

This blog was originally published in the newspaper Keskipohjanmaa on 30 May 2021 as part of an article series by the staff at University of Oulu Kerttu Saalasti Institute.