Although Norway has a wealth of oil resources, its metals mining industry has declined as a result of exhausted ore reserves. Norway was once a major producer of iron ore but production has dropped substantially in recent years. The only major producer is the Rana Grubewr mine, which will produce 400 000t per year.
Production is dependant on iron ore prices.
Australia's ABM has concluded a feasability study on the Bornevatn iron ore deposit in northern Norway. Production has been estimated at 2.25 Mt pellets per year. Norway's industrial minerals industry has been growing rapidly, producing increasing amounts of dimension stone, graphite, olivine and calcite. Local coal producer, Store Norske is considering a 1 Mt per year coal operation in the Sentralfeltet area. Store produced 330 000t of coal in 1998.