Gold panning

Gold panning refers to the exploitation of gold found in the soil.

If you want to pan for gold on state-owned land, you need a gold panning permit issued by Tukes. For gold panning on private land, the landowner’s permission is enough.
Priority for a gold panning permit for state-owned land is given to however first applies for the permit in accordance with the Mining Act.

Applying for a gold panning permit

Carefully fill in all sections of the gold panning permit application
Send the application, accompanied by any necessary appendices, to [email protected] or by post to Tukes’s Rovaniemi office.

If a gold panning permit application is fundamentally flawed, an application filled in by another applicant in accordance with the Mining Act may be given priority.

Documents required for a gold panning permit

To apply for a gold panning permit, you need the following documents:

a gold panning permit application
a mining waste management plan
a file containing the boundaries of the area applied for in the national coordinate system
the applicant’s official certificate or a trade register extract from all applicants.

How to start panning for gold

Find an area
Find an area (max. 7 ha) for which you want a gold panning permit.

Find out whether there are impediments to a gold panning permit
Find out whether there are any impediments to getting a gold panning permit for the area, such as an existing permit.

Permit application and appendices
Fill in the gold panning permit application and mining waste management plan forms, attach any other necessary documents and files and send the documents to Tukes

Processing permit applications
Wait for your permit application to be processed, which takes approximately xx.

Decision
Tukes publishes all decisions on its website, in addition to which you will get your decision by post. Once you receive the decision, read it and follow its instructions.

Examples of gold panning

Gold panning on state-owned land

Pirkko wants to start panning for gold in an area located in Lapland. Pirkko first checks with an authority such as Metsähallitus that the area is owned by the state. A gold panning permit from Tukes is required for gold panning on state-owned land, which is why Pirkko fills in all the sections of the gold panning permit application and sends the application with the necessary appendices to Tukes. Pirkko fills in the application with care, because she knows that if her application is fundamentally flawed, an application filled in by some other applicant in accordance with the Mining Act may be given priority.

Tukes processes the gold panning permit application and notifies Pirkko of its decision. Tukes also publishes all gold panning permit decisions on its website.
Once Pirkko receives Tukes’s decision, she can start following its instructions.

If the land had been owned by a private individual, Pirkko would have only needed permission from the landowner.

Gold panning on private land

Pentti wants to start panning for gold at his summer house. Pentti does not need a gold panning permit from Tukes, as he owns the land himself. Gold panning on private land only requires permission from the landowner. However, Pentti needs to check whether he needs other permits, such as an environmental permit pursuant to the Finnish Environmental Protection Act.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, with the landowner’s permission. You do not need a gold panning permit. Depending on the methods and scale of your gold panning operation, you may nevertheless need an environmental permit or a water permit under the Finnish Environmental Protection Act. For questions about environmental permits and water permits, contact the Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland.
Gold panning permit applications are accepted from:
- individuals over the age of 18 who reside within the European Economic Area, who are not bankrupt and whose competency has not been restricted pursuant to the Finnish Guardianship Services Act
- Finnish undertakings and foundations
- foreign undertakings and foundations that have a registered branch in Finland, that have been founded in accordance with the laws of any of the countries within the European Economic Area and that have their regular registered office, central administration or headquarters in any of the countries within the European Economic Area.