SWEDEN'S IRON MINES

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 50, 22 November 1937, Page 9

SWEDEN'S IRON MINES

Own Correspondent.l

Hive oi Industry in Polar Regjons . OUTPUT'S STEADY GROWTH

(From Our

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 26. flio output from th© Swedish iron Uiines situated in th© polar fegi'oti. is now at th© highest level since 1916. Ir 1933-34 ther© were 1370 persons employed in the mines. Now mor© than 1900 are at work. More than 200,000 lb. of dynamite is used monthly, and the use of electricity has been doubled. The electric railway from Lulea on the Bothnian coast in Sweden to Narvik on th© Norwegian side of the peninsula, which was built only for tlie transportation of ore, is busy day and night. Its ,grey trains* that creep like caterpillars over the waste fields and bare mountains are laden with ore. Eighteen ordinary and four extra trains daily go from Kiruna to Narvik. About '30,000. tons of ore is exported daily. - At Kiruna the ore is mined in the open air, practically the whole mountain being ore. The ore is hurled down into pits, where the waggons are placed. It is interesting to watch' how five men load a train of 20 cars every ten minutes. It is5 hard work. The casualty percentage is 8.3, and . the mine each year take one life. Furthermore, the polar night reigns three nlonths of the year, and the climate is severe. ' The major part of the ore goes from Narvik to England, Germany, and the United States. From 'Narvik every month between 500,000 and 600,000 tons are shipped. Since January 1 more than 700 shipg of 1,560,000 tons net have cleared from the port, and tlie "small Norwegian town grows rich from tlie Swedish ore mine. The municipal cinema iu Narvik which is one of the few, ;f hot the only amusemenb in the town, has douoJed its net income this year.