Metal and precursor powders are not grain dust
Fine metal and compound powders can be conductive, which is why Zone 21 dust protection, and the group IIIC target for it, matter more here than at a feed mill.
Finland · Mining, metals and battery chemicals
Explosion proof mobile phone for mining, metals and battery chemicals in Finland
An explosion proof mobile phone for Finland's battery metals chain has to work in three very different places: the open pit and bioleaching heaps at Terrafame's Sotkamo site, the chemical and metals park at Kokkola, and the processing plants around Harjavalta. Each has its own operator, its own area classification documents and its own view of what a handset may do. This page is for the safety, instrumentation and telecoms people who make that call. The IS-04Z1 is designed around intrinsic safety rather than a flameproof enclosure.
Launching Q4 2026 · ATEX programme in progress
Local approvalATEXATEX 2014/34/EU · Act 1139/2016 and Decree 1439/2016 · in progress
AvailabilityQ4 2026via authorised distributors
The sites · Sotkamo, Kokkola, Harjavalta
An explosion proof mobile phone for Finnish mining and metals sites
Terrafame's site at Sotkamo in Kainuu runs from its own open-pit mine, through heap bioleaching, to a battery chemicals plant, all on one industrial site. Air is blown into the heaps and an acidic solution is irrigated through them, so much of the site is open ground covering a large area, with the classified zones concentrated in the chemical plant rather than the mine. Kokkola is a different kind of place: an industrial park where Boliden's zinc plant, Umicore's cobalt and precursor operations, CABB, Yara and others share services and neighbours. Harjavalta in Satakunta adds copper, nickel and battery material processing further south.
Operators and neighbours
- Terrafame
- Sotkamo, Kainuu. Mine, bioleaching heaps and battery chemicals plant on one site, selling nickel and cobalt sulphates.
- Boliden Kokkola
- Zinc plant in the Kokkola Industrial Park using a multi-stage chemical process, including high-purity zinc for battery applications.
- Umicore Finland
- Kokkola. Cobalt refining that began in the park in 1968, plus battery precursor production; Freeport Cobalt's Kokkola activities were acquired in 2019.
- Kokkola Industrial Park
- Also home to CABB, Yara Finland, Air Liquide Finland and Woikoski, so neighbouring plants share infrastructure.
Areas that carry a classification
- Battery chemicals plant
- Reagent, crystallisation and sulphate areas where the plant's own assessment sets the zones and gas groups.
- Gas and sulphide handling
- Wherever a process handles hydrogen sulphide, hydrogen or solvent vapour, the gas group decides which handset is permitted.
- Powder handling
- Dryers, bagging and conveying of metal and precursor powders, assessed as Zone 21 or 22 dust areas where applicable.
- Heaps, pit and haul roads
- Open-air ground, largely outside the classified boundary, with long distances between inspection points.
Built for local conditions · Kainuu to Kokkola
What a battery metals site does to a handset
Gas is the hazard people expect. In this sector the dust, the acid and the cold decide how a trial goes.
Kainuu is a cold place to carry a phone
Sotkamo sits far enough north that February rounds happen in deep frost. rugged build covers low temperature and thermal shock, and the lowest permitted ambient temperature will be fixed by the certificate and published with the datasheet. Ask for that figure before anything else.
Wet, acidic and splashed
IP68 sealing is designed to cope with water and washdown. Resistance of the housing to a particular acid or reagent is a separate question, and the right place to settle it is the datasheet and your own chemical compatibility list, not a general assurance.
A chain of separate companies
Sotkamo, Kokkola and Harjavalta are run by different operators, and contractors move between parks. Android Enterprise enrolment lets each operator keep devices in its own existing MDM console and apply its own policy.
Use cases · Mining and metals
Where the IS-04Z1 goes to work in Finland.
Mining01
Heap and plant rounds at Sotkamo
An operator checking irrigation lines and collection points covers distance in freezing weather, then walks into the chemical plant where the classification changes. One handset that covers both the open ground and the classified process areas avoids a swap at the plant door.
Metals02
Maintenance windows at Kokkola
A park with several process plants has contractors from outside moving between employers' areas during planned stops. A photograph of an isolation point, tied to a position and a time, sits in the work record instead of on a personal phone.
Processing03
Sampling and handover
A sample taken from a powder line or a solution tank needs a location, a time and a photograph of the label before it goes to the laboratory. Capturing those at the sample point, inside the zone, replaces notes written later at a desk.
Shifts, contractors and access
How work is organised, and what site teams will ask for
Mine and process sites in Finland run continuous shifts with planned maintenance stops, during which the contractor headcount rises sharply. In an industrial park such as Kokkola, a contractor may hold access to more than one operator's area in a single week, and each operator applies its own rules about what may be carried.
For the equipment itself, the operator's explosion protection document is what governs. The employer records the area classification and the equipment chosen for each area, so the safety engineer will want the certificate reference, the full marking and the temperature class before a handset is added to that document. We have not verified a specific supplier registration scheme at any of these operators, so ask the operator's procurement and HSE teams what they require, and which of the sites on your list apply it.
Questions · Mining and metals
Frequently asked questions
Is the IS-04Z1 certified for use at a mine or smelter in Finland yet?
No. It is pre-launch, ATEX and IECEx certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch, and no certificate has been issued. A handset should not enter a classified area at Sotkamo, Kokkola or anywhere else before the certificate covering that use exists.
Why does the dust group matter for metal processing?
Dust protection is divided into IIIA, IIIB and IIIC, and IIIC covers conductive dust. Metal powders can fall into that class, so the design target of Zone 21 protection to IIIC is relevant here. The final selection rests on the operator's own testing of the powder involved.
Can one device be used at both Sotkamo and Kokkola?
The design target is the same, Zone 1 gas and Zone 21 dust. But each operator classifies its own plant and keeps its own equipment list, so a handset accepted at one site still has to be accepted at the next.
Enquiry · Mining, metals and battery chemicals
Ask about the IS-04Z1 for Mining, metals and battery chemicals, Finland
Tell us the site, the zone and gas group, and roughly how many handsets. The SAMS team replies by email with the datasheet and the certification schedule for Finland. The IS-04Z1 is pre-launch and certification is in progress, so there is no list price yet; indicative pricing is issued in writing against a stated quantity and site.
Enquiry · Mining, metals and battery chemicals
Launching Q4 2026
Evaluating the IS-04Z1 for this site?
Tell us the zone, gas group and operator. We will send the datasheet and the certification schedule for your market.