World’s Most Modern Underground Mine

“lighted brown concrete buildings near body of water at nighttime” by Dominik Vanyi on Unsplash

Kiruna is the world’s largest and most modern underground Iron ore mine,
located in Northern Sweden, and is fully owned by Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag (LKAB), a Swedish government-owned high-tech mining company. The mine has produced approximately 950 Mt from its 4km long, 80 m thick and 2 km deep ore body. Although it is considered one of the most modern mines in the world and only employs around 400 workers in the mine, the whole operation employs 1,800 people. The increase in steel demand is actually driving the company to hire more production people for the processing plant. In fact, in figure one we can observe how intertwined the mine and the town of Kiruna truly are. (1) The Kiruna mine is the epitome of an underground iron ore mine, LKAB which owns the mine has been able to adapt to each era, always employing the newest most suitable technology, maintaining, therefore, one of the most successful iron ore operations in the world for more than 100 years.

Fig. 1. Kiruna Mine Site and Town.

The Kiruna mine has more than a century of existence, in which it has been a key player of the Swedish economy and the European Steel Industry. The history of the mine begins in the late 19th century after the ore is…