Lorentz Lossius (26 June 1589 – 1654) was a German-born Norwegian mining engineer. He was the founder and first director of the

Røros Copper Works The Røros Copper Works at Røros in Trøndelag, Norway operated from 1644 to 1977. Privileges from the Crown were given in 1647, including rights to forests and water resources within a circle of diameter 90 kilometers. The local farmers were give ...

(''Røros Kobberverk''). Lorentz Andreas Christophersen Lossius was born in the village of

Lommatzsch Lommatzsch (; hsb, Hłomač) is a municipality located in the district of Meißen in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Geography Lommatzsch lies amidst the so-called ''Lommatzscher Pflege'', an area of land featuring high quality loessic so ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. He was a son of Lutheran priest Christopher Lossius (1560–1626). He studied character art and mathematics at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

. Lossius first worked for the

Kongsberg Silver Mines Kongsberg Silver works () was a mining operation at Kongsberg in Viken county in Norway. The town of Kongsberg is the site of the Norwegian Mining Museum (). History Operating from over 80 different sites, Kongsberg silver mines constituted th ...

where he started as an accountant (''schichtmester'') at the silver mine in 1631. In 1635, he relocated to the

Kvikne Copper Works The Kvikne Copper Works at Kvikne in Hedmark, Norway were operated from 1630, and were the largest copper works in Norway in the mid-17th century. The ore discovery was reported in 1629. The first mines were called ''Gabe Gottes'' and ''Segen Gott ...

. In 1644, he started test production at Rauhammaren in the

Røros Røros ( sma, Plaassja, ) is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Røros. Some of the villages in Røros include Brekken, Glåmos, Feragen, Galåa, and Hitterdalen. The minin ...

district, but initially the ore was poor. This led to the later discovery of the large deposit of copper ore at what became the Storwartz mines. Rights were issued in 1645 with Lossius as part-owner of the new company. Smelting was built, and promising test operations got underway in 1646. This is regarded as the establishment of the

. Lossius remained as director of the Røros Copper Works (1646–1651), at which time he was replaced by

Joachim Irgens von Westervick Joachim Irgens von Westervick (Danish: ''Joachim Irgens von Westervick''; spelled also ''af Westervig'' and ''af Vestervig'') (19 May 1611 - 29 August 1675), born as ''Jochum Jürgens'', was a Dano-Norwegian nobleman, a Danish official and an esta ...

References

1589 births 1654 deaths People from Lommatzsch Leipzig University alumni Engineers from Saxony Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire to Denmark-Norway People from Røros Mining in Norway {{norway-engineer-stub