Boliden mines ore from underground mines and open-pit mines. The mines produce ore with relatively high metal grades, from a global perspective, with the exception from the Aitk mine where the copper grades are low.
The ore is transported to the concentrator in the mining area in question to produce concentrate. The concentrator process yield zinc and copper concentrates with metals grades from approximately 54 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.
A certain amount of the concentrates are sold to external customers, but the majority of the zinc concentrate and virtually all of the copper concentrate is processed into metals in Boliden's own smelters.