Instructions

Send your samples by following these instructions

1. Take a representative sample of the interesting rock or boulder. A piece roughly the size of a fist is enough.
2. Mark the location where you took the sample on a map or mark down its coordinates. Mark the location in the terrain as well with a stick or a piece of rope, for example. This way the location is easier to find if any further research needs to be conducted.
3. Package the sample or samples in a sturdy parcel. Please make sure that it weighs less than two kilos. If you send multiple samples, please number the samples so the samples and the locations they were found at are easy to match to each other. If you send several samples within a year, please use sequential numbering. Place the sample form in the parcel as well. The form should include your name, address, phone number and email address as well as the exact locations where the samples were taken from and the respective coordinates of those locations, if possible. Please also include information on whether the sample was taken from bedrock, boulder or rock, and whether the sample should be analysed as an ore, industrial mineral, construction stone or gemstone sample.
4. Send the parcel to the address specified on this page and address it to the Geological Survey of Finland’s kansannäytetoimisto (layman’s sample office). Parcels under 2 kilograms will be delivered free of charge inside Finland. We do not accept samples that weigh more than 2 kilograms. If you wish to have the sample returned to you, please specify this on the sample form. Samples are processed in the order they are received.

Changes to the layman’s sample practice

GTK’s layman’s sample practice is becoming paperless and entering the digital age. This will be done by launching a Layman’s Samples mobile app. In the future, observations relating to layman’s samples can be sent to GTK via the free application available for iOS and Android phones. The app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play Store at a date that will be announced later. More information on the Layman’s Samples app (in Finnish).

During the transferring phase, samples can be sent with the old method as well, either by printing and filling out the sample form or by writing down the required information by hand. The paper sample form should be included in the parcel with the sample.

When the Layman’s Samples app is published, the observations sent via the app and the samples related to them take priority over the samples sent with a paper form when processing received samples. So, in the future, if you want your sample to be processed and analysed as fast as possible, please use the Layman’s Sample app either on your mobile phone or via a web browser.