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The Iron-ore Mine at Kiruna, Sweden
publication date: Jan 2, 2008
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author/source: Polly Evans
 You may not think that visiting an iron-ore mine rates high on your holiday wish list, but the mine at Kiruna, 200 kilometres above the Arctic Circle, is fairly extraordinary. Even if you, like me, fail to understand much about the geological make-up of bits of old rock, you can’t fail to be impressed by the fact that this, the largest iron-ore mine in the world, is home to a staggering 400 kilometres of paved, two-lane underground roads. That’s to say that, if you drove along all the roads in this mine, you’d have covered the distance between London and the Lake District. Nor by the statistic that, every day, this single mine excavates sufficient iron-ore to build 2,500 cars. They blast via remote control in 10 places every night, always between the hours of 1.15 and 1.30 in the morning. (The men and women in the office don’t hear mechanical roaring but the sweet tones of classical music when they press the button.) The rubble ascends in lifts that zoom upwards at 60 kilometres an hour. But the really quirky thing about Kiruna is not its existing mine – though its magnitude and machinery are impressive enough. The really amazing thing about Kiruna is that they’ve discovered another iron-ore body directly below the town centre. And so they’re moving the town.Over the next 20 years, about a third of the town will be relocated. The residents don’t seem too fussed. After all, the town only exists because of the mine, which for the last hundred years has been the major employer in these parts. The mine is vastly lucrative, and Scandinavians are practical folk. If their house must be demolished and the money from the mine’s coffers builds them a brand-new one a few kilometres down the road, there’s no need to grumble.
But the moving of a town is a gargantuan task. Kiruna’s town hall, which from the outside looks like a large, square box with an interesting clock tower, is considered, from its interior, to be an architectural work of art. It cannot be pulled down. And so the mine is relocating the town hall in a single move, atop 50 or so outsized lorries. In order for these lorries to progress the few kilometres to the town hall’s new location, they’ll have to specially construct an 80-metres wide road. Kiruna’s church, an ornate wooden construction, was recently voted the best-loved building in the whole of Sweden. It will be dismantled, rafter by delicate rafter, and reconstructed in its new location.
The size of the task is breathtaking. But this is Sweden, where everything works. Perhaps they’ll pull it off.
Getting there: The best way to get to Kiruna is with Discover the World which charters a direct flight from London in the winter. Otherwise, you have to fly via Stockholm. Discover the World can arrange tours of the mine, as well as accommodation at the ICEHOTEL, just a 15-minute drive from the town, and other activities including husky safaris, reindeer safaris, snowmobile drives and northern lights viewing.
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