The significance of the mining industry in Finland has changed in recent decades. The emphasis has shifted from supporting mineral-based domestic value chains towards acting as part of the internationally highly networked production system of raw materials and the information society. The change is considered in this publication through a review of societal and technical themes. The publication also seeks to identify trends that will have an impact on the future of the mining industry. The themes scrutinised include the means of political guidance in the mining industry, actors in the field, the significance of co-operation of companies with stakeholders and civil activism in the development of the image and social acceptance of the industry, practices in mineral exploration and processing technology, as well as the management of environmental impacts. The publication helps to identify interdependencies between markets, political guidance, the actors in the mining sector (such as companies, authorities, stakeholders and civic activism), environmental management, technological development and large-scale challenges in the mining sector (such as climate change and the scarcity of raw materials). The study was carried out in the ’Sustainable Acceptable Mining’ (SAM) Project, funded by the Tekes Green Mining Programme, in co-operation with the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK), the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) and the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE).