As we bounce between Helsinki and Kittilä, Kajaani and Tampere, he will be posting news stories and talking to miners and analysts about the realities of operating in the country.

On top of its mining operations and maturing exploration sector, Finland is also home to a world-class mining equipment, technology and services (METS) industry, which has exported around the world for decades. Whether this translates to smarter exploration and mining at home is an important question for investors.

On top of the success stories, Finland's reaction to a major operation failing and being brought back to life at Talvivaara will be a point of interest during the visit to the now state-run mine.

We'll also see how Finns operate under Australians at Dragon Mining's operation near Tampere, and gain a perspective no how well Canadian cold-weather know-how translates into operational performance at the Laiva gold mine near Raahe.

You can follow Alex's trip through his Twitter (twitter.com/alex_hamer) or author page at mining-journal.com: https://bit.ly/2nIXy3n.

This trip and ongoing research will also inform Mining Journal's upcoming Finland/Sweden cover story (October 4 print edition).