Kaunisvaara

Kaunisvaara is a village in northern Sweden, in Pajala Municipality, 100 km north of the Arctic Circle.

Mining

Main article: Kaunisvaara mine

There are large magnetite (iron ore) deposits in this area; Northland Resources began constructing the first mine in December 2011.^[1][2] Ore production was expected to begin in 2012,^[3] with annual iron ore production reaching 12 million tonnes by 2014. Reserves are estimated at 176 million tonnes.^[1] The mine went bankrupt in October 2014 because of low iron ore prices and high debts.

History

In 2009, archaeologists commissioned by Northland Resources found evidence of stone-age settlements, dated to 9300BCE, in the area; this has shed new light on the timeline of deglaciation and human settlement in northern Europe.^[4]

References

1. "Northland Resources breaks ground for Kaunisvaara project". Retrieved 2011-07-06.
2. "Northland - Kaunisvaara - Tue Jul 5, 2011". Archived from the original on October 23, 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-05.
3. "Northland finalises Cat/Bucyrus fleet for Kaunisvaara". International Mining. Retrieved 2011-07-05.
4. "Drygt 11000 år gammal boplats invid inlandsisen - NLL". Archived from the original on 2012-01-19. Retrieved 2011-07-05.

67°23′N 23°21′E