The "iron rush" in Swedish Lapland at the end of the 19th century

Malmberget ("The Ore Mountain") in Swedish Lapland has been a major center of iron ore excavation since the late 19th century. Iron ore mining at Malmberget began already in 1741, but modern large scale mining was introduced when the 203 km long railway line between Malmberget and the port city of Luleå was opened in 1888.

The first years of the mining boom bore a striking resemblance to the conditions in North America during the gold rushes. There were lots of job opportunities, but very few dwellings. Many of the miners had to live in shacks built from used dynamite crates.

At the turn of the century the population of the Malmberget mining community had already grown to 7000.

In 1907 the state owned company LKAB took over the mining activities, and continues to operate the mines until this day. Currently LKAB employs around 1,000 people at Malmberget, of whom 900 work in mining, processing and administration.

Miners at the Fredrika mine at Malmberget (about 1900).



A coffee-house for miners.

The center of the Gällivare municipality, of which Malmberget was a part, at the turn of the century.

The ore was brough by train to the port of Luleå. At the turn of the century most of the ore was exported to Germany.

A panorama of Luleå (about 1900).

A giant floating gold dredge in California in the early 1920s

An early 1920s "monster" gold dredge in California.

This is an early 1920s photograph of a large floating gold dredge in California (unfortonately I have no information about where in California). Monstrous machines like this one scooped up millions of tons of gravels - and a lot of gold - in the early 20th century. Several of these giants still exist in state-sponsored heritage areas.

Today technological advances have again made dredging popular. Small dredges allow a single person to access and process gravel banks that were inaccessible to the giant dredges of the early 1900s. 

Sulphur mines in Sicily a hundred years ago: "The nearest thing to hell"

The  temperature in the sulfur mines could rise to 50 degrees
Celsius (122  Fahrenheit).

Already in ancient times, sulfur was found in the volcanic regions of Sicily. Originally Sicilian sulphur was extracted from open-pit mines, but later on the mining was done under the surface of the Earth:

Eventually the surface-borne deposits played out, and miners excavated veins that ultimately dotted the Sicilian landscape with labyrinthine mines. Mining was unmechanized and labor-intensive, with pickmen freeing the ore from the rock, and mine-boys or carusi carrying baskets of ore to the surface, often through a mile or more of tunnels. Once the ore was at the surface, it was reduced and extracted in smelting ovens. The conditions in Sicilian sulfur mines were horrific, prompting Booker T. Washington to write "I am not prepared just now to say to what extent I believe in a physical hell in the next world, but a sulphur mine in Sicily is about the nearest thing to hell that I expect to see in this life."

Thank God, things have improved since those days!

A sulphur mine in Sicily in the early 20th century.

Sicilian sulphur miners. The 13 - 17 year old mine-boys - the carusi - had to carry the sacks of sulphur - often weighing up to 20 kg - to the surface along the hot and slippery tunnels. (Photo probably from 1908).

The smelting ovens.

A cableway was used for transporting the ore. 

A renaissance for Swedish iron ore exports - and ore carriers?

Sweden has for centuries been one Europe´s most important iron ore exporters. Recently, PM Fredrik Reinfeldt has indicated that , due to the historically high price level, exports of iron ore could be Sweden´s answer to Norway´s oil exports. 

There are plans to re-open the Grängesberg iron ore mine in Bergslagen in Central Sweden, where mining activity had continued since the 15th century until closure in 1990. 

A successful re-opening of mining activities will have to be accompanied by improved infrastructure for port facilities, and perhaps the development of more effective ore carriers. 

A look at what happened about a hundred years ago might be of interest: 

The first two decades of the 20th century were a very profitable time for iron ore exports from Grängesberg, when new types of specialized vessels for transportation of ore were introduced.

The Dutch owned ore cargo steamer, shown below, was built by William Doxford & Sons in Sunderland in 1903. The 6799 tonnes "Grängesberg" was a so called turret deck ship, with an unusual hull, which made it particularly suited to the carriage of ores.

The Dutch owned steamer "Grängesberg" was mainly used for transporting iron ore from Sweden to Rotterdam.

The "Blötberg" was another Dutch owned turret steam used on the Oxelösund  - Rotterdam route in the early 20th century.

In side profile, turret deck ships resembled other merchant vessels with flush decks or with small forecastles and poop decks.^[6] In cross-section the differences between turret deck vessels and more conventional ships are apparent. There was no gunwale; the vertical side of a turret ship curves inward above the load line to a horizontal plane. This flat area was known as the harbour deck (Hamndäck in the picture). 
(source: wikipedia)

However, in the early 1920s the turret deck steamers had already lost their popularity in the ore shipping trade. This was probably mainly due to the capsizing of the turret steamer "Oxelösund" in 1916. Particularly, when loaded with other cargo than ore, the turret ships were considered to have stability problems. 

The "Sir Ernest Cassel" - named after the the British merchant banker and grandfather of Edwina Mountbatten, who owned Grängesberg mine at the turn of the century - was another type of ore steamer popular in the first decades of the 20th century. 

The "Sir Ernest Cassel", designed by the Swedish ship designer J. Johnson, and built by Messrs R. &  W.  Hawthorn,  Leslie & Co. in Hebburn on Tyne, was equipped with 12 electric cranes. 

The cranes were used for speedy loading of the ore. 

The loading system seen from another angle. 

However, in the early 1920's also this type of ore freighters lost their popularity. They were considered to be excellent for transporting ore, but less less so for carrying other, less heavy cargo. In 1920 the Grängesberg mining company had placed orders for 18 new ore carriers, but none of them was of the "Sir Earnest Cassel" type. 

The end of the once so proud ore carrier was sad. On April 16, 1940 the German armed merchant cruiser Thor intercepted the "Sir Earnest Cassel", which then was sunk by demolition charges. The crew was taken aboard the German ship.