Orkla Mining Company Ltd. (Norwegian: Orkla Grube-Aktiebolag) was a Norwegian mining company established in 1904. The company was the largest mining company in Norway in the aftermath of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and was among the world's largest

pyrite The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Iron, FeSulfur, S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic Luster (mineralogy), lust ...

producers. After closing of the mining operations in 1987, the company developed into the holding company

Orkla ASA Orkla ASA is a Norwegian conglomerate operating in the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, Asia and the US. At present, Orkla operates in the branded consumer goods, aluminium solutions and financial investment sectors. Orkla ASA is listed on the Osl ...

, which is among the largest companies at

Oslo Stock Exchange Oslo Stock Exchange ( no, Oslo Børs) (OSE: OSLO) is a stock exchange within the Nordic countries and offers Norway’s only regulated markets for securities trading today. The stock exchange offers a full product range including equities, deriv ...

History

Orkla Mining Co. Ltd. was established as a

limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...

at a constituting meeting in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

on 7 December 1904. The purpose of the company was to acquire mines in the Orkdalen

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag () was a county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. To the west is the No ...

and subsequently start operations. The share capital was applied for the acquirement of several mines from

Christian Salvesen Christian Salvesen was a Scottish whaling, transport and logistics company with a long and varied history, employing 13,000 staff and operating in seven countries in western Europe. In December 2007, it was acquired by French listed transport ...

, including

Løkken Verk Løkken Verk (sometimes just called Løkken) is a village in the municipality of Orkland in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located south of the village of Svorkmo, east of the village of Bjørnli, and north of the municipal center of Meldal. ...

, Åmot gruve, Høidal gruve and Dragset Verk as well various properties at

Orkanger Orkanger is a town and the administrative centre of Orkland municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The town is also a former municipality which existed from 1920 until 1963. The town sits at the end of the Orkdal Fjord, an arm of the Trondhe ...

and elsewhere in Orkdalen. Christian Salvesen together with Wilhelm August Thams had started Ørkedalens Mining in Meldal in 1867. The company bought a significant amount of shares of the company Chr. Salvesen & Chr. Thams's Communications Aktieselskab, whose purpose was to develop the infrastructure of the area and was responsible for electricity production and railway operation for Løkken Mine. In 1913, Swedish banker Marcus Wallenberg, Sr. became Chairman of the Board of Directors. Following a period of exploration mining at the Løkken Mine, large-scale mining of

s was initiated. The mining community

was developed in

Meldal Meldal is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it joined Orkland Municipality. It was part of the Orkdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipali ...

and the

Thamshavn Line , logo = , logo_width = , logo_alt = , image_name = Bårdshaug stasjon.jpeg , image_width = , image_alt = , caption = Passenger train at Bårdshaug Station in 191 ...

(''Thamshavnbanen'') was constructed for transport of ore to the sea for export. In 1931, a smelting plant (now Elkem Thamshavn) at the port of

Thamshavn Thamshavn or Thamshamn is a small port village in the municipality of Orkland in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is the site of the port for the town of Orkanger and the ferrosilicon plant Elkem Thamshavn. It is located right along European route ...

started operations, based on the sulphur extraction process developed by Orkla. The Orkla Mining Company was the largest mining company in Norway in the

interwar years In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

, and among the world's largest pyrite producers. After the closing of mining operations at Løkken Mine in 1987, the company developed into the

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

Orkla Group Orkla ASA is a Norwegian conglomerate operating in the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, Asia and the US. At present, Orkla operates in the branded consumer goods, aluminium solutions and financial investment sectors. Orkla ASA is listed on the Os ...

References

External links

Orkla Industrial Museum website
Mining companies of Norway Orkla ASA Companies based in Trøndelag Non-renewable resource companies established in 1904 Norwegian companies established in 1904

History

References

Related reading

External links