page_title: Kiruna Mine
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Kiruna Mine / History
caption_attribution_description: Miners drilling in the Kiirunavaara mine in Lapland. Gruvarbetare som borrar i Kiirunavaara gruva. Parish (socken): Kiruna Province (landskap): Lappland Municipality (kommun): Kiruna County (län): Norrbotten Photograph by: Unknown. Almquist &amp; Cöster Date: 1940-1959 Format: Cliché, film with text Persistent URL: kmb.raa.se/cocoon/bild/show-image.html?id=16001000394644 Read more about the photo database (in english): www.kms.raa.se/cocoon/bild/about.html
context_page_description: The Kiruna mine is the largest and most modern underground iron ore mine in the world. The mine is located in Kiruna in Norrbotten County, Lapland, Sweden. The mine is owned by Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB, a large Swedish mining company. In 2018 the mine produced 26.9 million tonnes of iron ore. The Kiruna mine has an ore body which is 4 km long, 80 metres to 120 metres thick and reaching a depth of up to 2 km. Since mining began at the site in 1898, the mine has produced over 950 million tonnes of ore.
  In 2004, it was decided that the present centre of the city would need to be relocated to accommodate mining-related subsidence. The relocation would be made gradually over decades.
  On May 18, 2020 an earthquake of approximate 4.9 Mw was triggered in the footwall of the mine. The earthquake was not natural but induced by the mining activity.
context_section_description: The Kiruna mineral deposit was formed following intense volcanic activity. Iron-rich solutions precipitated the iron on to a syenite porphyry footwall. Then the ore bed was covered by further volcanic deposits, quartz porphyry, and sedimentary rocks. Later the whole body was tilted to its current dip of 50 to 60°. The ore is predominately magnetite and disseminated interstitial apatite, with an average of 0.9% phosphorus.
  In 1902 the Kiruna Narvik Railway was completed, allowing the shipment of ore through the ice-free port of Narvik.
  In the beginning, surface mining was used, but the mine has been mined with the sublevel caving mining method since the 1960s. In 1985 reserves for the Kiruna Mine were 1,800 million tonnes grading 60–65% iron and 0.2% phosphorus. As of 2018 the Kiruna Mine had Proven and Probable Reserves of 683 million tonnes grading 43.8% iron. 
  Until 1999 the deepest level of the mine reached 775 metres (2,543 ft), but after 1999 mining went deeper, reaching a depth of 1,045 metres (3,428 ft). The 1,045 metres (3,428 ft) level could support iron ore production until 2018. On October 28, 2008 LKAB decided to go even deeper, with the mine reaching a depth of 1,365 metres (4,478 ft) by 2012 at a cost of US$1.7 billion.
caption: Miners at work, circa 1940-1959
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