The Malmberget mine (Swedish: ''Malmbergsgruvan'') is one of the largest
iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
mines in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
.
The mine is located in
Malmberget
Malmberget ("The Ore Mountain", Finnish and Meänkieli: ''Malmivaara'') is a locality and mining town situated in Gällivare Municipality, Norrbotten County, Sweden. It had 5,590 inhabitants in 2010, reduced to 927 by December 2020. It is situated ...
in
Norrbotten County
Norrbotten County ( sv, Norrbottens län; se, Norrbottena leatna, fi, Norrbottenin lääni) is the northernmost county or '' län'' of Sweden. It is also the largest county by land area, almost a quarter of Sweden's total area. It shares border ...
,
Lapland.
The mine which is owned by
Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB (LKAB) has an annual production capacity of over 5 million tonnes of
iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
. The mine has reserves amounting to 350 million tonnes of ore grading 43.8%
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
thus resulting 153.3 million tonnes of
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
.
In 2009 the mine produced 4.3 million tonnes of
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
. It is one of the largest underground mines for iron ore in the world.
The new main level is located at 1250 meter, while the deepest point is 1390 meter below ground.
The iron-apatite ore of the mine is hosted in igneous rocks known as the
Kiruna Porphyry.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malmberget Mine
Iron mines in Sweden