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Sydvaranger
Sydvaranger AS (previously A/S Sydvaranger) is an iron ore mining company in Sør-Varanger Municipality, Norway. The mining operations have not restarted (as of Q1 2025). With an open-pit mine in Bjørnevatn, it has traditionally hauled the ore with the Kirkenes–Bjørnevatn Line to Kirkenes for processing and shipping.
The ore was discovered in 1866, but it was not until the 1900s that new technology made it commercially viable. Sydvaranger was established in 1906 by Christian Anker and Nils Persson and had Sweden's Metallurgiska as the majority owner. Production started in 1910 and capacity was increased in 1913.
Production halted during World War I and the company could not recover afterwards, resulting in it falling under bankruptcy protection between 1924 and 1927. During the 1930s the company also owned Rana Mine at Storforshei in Rana Municipality. During the German withdrawal in October 1944 Kirkenes was scorched, including most of the mining infrastructure.
Reconstruction started in 1945, operation commenced in 1953 and the facilities were completed in 1960. At its peak, the company had 1,500 employees. Production was profitable from the reopening until 1976, but from then the company needed NOK 5 billion in state grants to keep running, before being shut down in 1996.
After returning to operations between 2009 and 2015, it was expected that mining activities would resume in 2022, two years after the company and property were purchased by Tacora resources.[citation needed] On May 6, 2024, it was announced that Grangex had completed the acquisition of Sydvaranger Mining AS.
The iron ore at Bjørnevatn was originally discovered by assistant director of the Geological Survey of Norway, Tellef Dahll, in 1868. It was at the time not commercially viable to mine. With the development of magnetic separation, merchant Christian Anker from Halden started acquiring deeds for the area. In 1903, he contacted the government and started negotiating an agreement to start operations. After several rounds of proposals he received permission and the contract was signed on 9 March 1905. Anker's principal assistant, Engineer Henrik Lund, arrived at Kirkenes in 1903 and started designing the plant. He was assisted by Hans Johan Bernhard Hansen from 1905. They decided that the port should be located at Kirkenes and that a railway would have to be built between the mine and the port.
By 1905, then Anker had negotiated an investment agreement with Nils Persson of Sweden, who took over Anker's rights immediately after Anker had signed the contract. The company was established on 12 January 1906 with A. P. Pehrson appointed the company's first managing director. The share capital was set to 5 million Norwegian krone (NOK) and the majority shareholder was Metallurgiska. The first task was to mine a trial 100 tonnes (98 long tons; 110 short tons), which were shipped to Luleå for analysis. Inge Thoresen Wiull was hired as chief engineer in September 1906. He initially started working on housing in Kirkenes, which by 1908 had reached 31 houses for workers, each with four apartments, and six white-collar houses. From November 1906 Wiull was also responsible for constructing the railway and the port, based on his experience from managing the construction of the Valdres Line.
Investments were in 1907 estimated to NOK 12 million, of which NOK 4.3 was for transport investments, NOK 4.5 million for the separation and briquetting plants, and NOK 1.5 million for investments in the mine. Capital was borrowed from a consortium consisting of Norddeutsche Bank, Disconto-Gesellschaft, Centralbanken for Norge and Stockholms Enskilda Bank. In addition the share capital was increased to NOK 10 million at the shareholders meeting in October 1907. A. Herden was hired by Metallurgiska to construct the separation plant and briquetting, which was dimensioned to for an annual export of 600,000 tonnes (590,000 long tons; 660,000 short tons). This was later reduced to an export capacity of 330,000 tonnes (320,000 long tons; 360,000 short tons). Pehrson resigned from 1 July 1908 and was replaced by Carl Lundh. To ensure all-year access to the port, the company ordered the 250-kilowatt (350 hp) icebreaker SS Sydvaranger, which was delivered in 1907 and operated by the subsidiary Dampskib Aktieselskabet Pasvik. The subsidiary ordered a second icebreaker, the 450-kilowatt (600 hp) SS Pasvik in 1908.
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Sydvaranger
Sydvaranger AS (previously A/S Sydvaranger) is an iron ore mining company in Sør-Varanger Municipality, Norway. The mining operations have not restarted (as of Q1 2025). With an open-pit mine in Bjørnevatn, it has traditionally hauled the ore with the Kirkenes–Bjørnevatn Line to Kirkenes for processing and shipping.
The ore was discovered in 1866, but it was not until the 1900s that new technology made it commercially viable. Sydvaranger was established in 1906 by Christian Anker and Nils Persson and had Sweden's Metallurgiska as the majority owner. Production started in 1910 and capacity was increased in 1913.
Production halted during World War I and the company could not recover afterwards, resulting in it falling under bankruptcy protection between 1924 and 1927. During the 1930s the company also owned Rana Mine at Storforshei in Rana Municipality. During the German withdrawal in October 1944 Kirkenes was scorched, including most of the mining infrastructure.
Reconstruction started in 1945, operation commenced in 1953 and the facilities were completed in 1960. At its peak, the company had 1,500 employees. Production was profitable from the reopening until 1976, but from then the company needed NOK 5 billion in state grants to keep running, before being shut down in 1996.
After returning to operations between 2009 and 2015, it was expected that mining activities would resume in 2022, two years after the company and property were purchased by Tacora resources.[citation needed] On May 6, 2024, it was announced that Grangex had completed the acquisition of Sydvaranger Mining AS.
The iron ore at Bjørnevatn was originally discovered by assistant director of the Geological Survey of Norway, Tellef Dahll, in 1868. It was at the time not commercially viable to mine. With the development of magnetic separation, merchant Christian Anker from Halden started acquiring deeds for the area. In 1903, he contacted the government and started negotiating an agreement to start operations. After several rounds of proposals he received permission and the contract was signed on 9 March 1905. Anker's principal assistant, Engineer Henrik Lund, arrived at Kirkenes in 1903 and started designing the plant. He was assisted by Hans Johan Bernhard Hansen from 1905. They decided that the port should be located at Kirkenes and that a railway would have to be built between the mine and the port.
By 1905, then Anker had negotiated an investment agreement with Nils Persson of Sweden, who took over Anker's rights immediately after Anker had signed the contract. The company was established on 12 January 1906 with A. P. Pehrson appointed the company's first managing director. The share capital was set to 5 million Norwegian krone (NOK) and the majority shareholder was Metallurgiska. The first task was to mine a trial 100 tonnes (98 long tons; 110 short tons), which were shipped to Luleå for analysis. Inge Thoresen Wiull was hired as chief engineer in September 1906. He initially started working on housing in Kirkenes, which by 1908 had reached 31 houses for workers, each with four apartments, and six white-collar houses. From November 1906 Wiull was also responsible for constructing the railway and the port, based on his experience from managing the construction of the Valdres Line.
Investments were in 1907 estimated to NOK 12 million, of which NOK 4.3 was for transport investments, NOK 4.5 million for the separation and briquetting plants, and NOK 1.5 million for investments in the mine. Capital was borrowed from a consortium consisting of Norddeutsche Bank, Disconto-Gesellschaft, Centralbanken for Norge and Stockholms Enskilda Bank. In addition the share capital was increased to NOK 10 million at the shareholders meeting in October 1907. A. Herden was hired by Metallurgiska to construct the separation plant and briquetting, which was dimensioned to for an annual export of 600,000 tonnes (590,000 long tons; 660,000 short tons). This was later reduced to an export capacity of 330,000 tonnes (320,000 long tons; 360,000 short tons). Pehrson resigned from 1 July 1908 and was replaced by Carl Lundh. To ensure all-year access to the port, the company ordered the 250-kilowatt (350 hp) icebreaker SS Sydvaranger, which was delivered in 1907 and operated by the subsidiary Dampskib Aktieselskabet Pasvik. The subsidiary ordered a second icebreaker, the 450-kilowatt (600 hp) SS Pasvik in 1908.