History - 1919

1696 bookkeeper Samuel Mört of the Kengis works writes of the two ore mountains Luossavaara and Kiirunavaara.

1735 Lieutenant Carl Thingvall files claims on the Gällivare deposits.

1736 surveyor Anders Hacksell draws the first maps of Kiruna’s ore mountains, which he names Fredriks berg (Kiirunavaara) and Berget Ulrika Eleonora (Luossavaara).

1864 Gellivare Company Ltd is formed, backed by a group of English financiers. The company’s plan was to build a railway, which in combination with canals bypassing the rapids of Edefors and Hedenforsarna on the Lule River, would carry the Gällivare ore to Luleå. The Swedish state invests capital, but by 1867, the venture faces bankruptcy. By then, the English Canal was only half completed. The company was later resurrected under the names New Gellivare Company and Gellivare Aktiebolag.

1878 two English chemists, Thomas and Gilchrist, solve the problem of how to produce steel of good quality from high-phosphorus iron ore. The so-called Thomas process presents a way of utilizing the high-phosphorus Norrbotten ores.

1884 Gellivare Aktiebolag is granted a concession for a railway from Luleå to Ofoten. Construction began immediately and was financed mainly by English capital. The principal contractor is impressively named The Northern of Europe Railway Company. The principal contractor for the project is the similarly English Pinn Et Millet.

1888 The provisional railroad between Malmberget and Luleå is ready. The first train leaves Malmberget on March 3. Carrying 1,000 tonnes of ore, the first train arrives in Luleå on March 12. The next year, the English company is forced into bankruptcy. The Swedish state buys the line and rolling stock for 8 million kronor, paying half of what the English had invested.

1890 On October 24 the articles of association for Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag (LKAB) receive Crown approval. On December 18 a statutory shareholders’ meeting is held in Stockholm. The 2,000 shares, at 1,000 kronor each, are distributed among 14 shareholders. Major Robert Schoug, holding nearly half of the share capital, is named Chairman of the Board. Carl Johan Ljunggren becomes the first managing director.

1891 AB Gellivare Malmfält (AGM) is formed with merchant Gustaf Emil Broms as principal owner, and the “Norrbotten King”, C.O. Bergman, as the first managing director.

1893 AGM acquires the majority holding in LKAB and Gustaf Emil Broms takes over as managing director.

1898 The Swedish and Norwegian parliaments decide that the ore railway is to be extended from Gällivare to Narvik. Work begins the same year, and Hjalmar Lundbohm becomes LKAB’s Kiruna general manager. Work begins the same year. Hjalmar Lundbohm becomes LKAB’s Kiruna general manager.

1899 The rails are laid to Kiruna or, as it was then called, Luossavare. The first rock drill was used in Kiirunavaara.

1900 Kiruna becomes a town and a municipal plan is established. LKAB’s share capital is increased from three million to six million kronor.

1901 A mechanical workshop and steam power station are built on Kiruna’s island. Dwellings are under construction. Dwellings are under construction.

1902 On November 15, the Swedish and Norwegian sections of the railway are joined at Riksgränsen. SJ’s Director General, Theodor Nordström, hammers in the last spike. A few weeks later, the first ore train is bound for Narvik.

1903 King Oscar II inaugurates the Ore Railway on July 14. In January, the first ore ship is loaded in Narvik’s provisional harbor. Majority interest in LKAB is acquired by Trafikaktiebolaget Grängesberg-Oxelösund (TGO).

1906 The first permanent ore quay is completed in Narvik. Kiruna now has 5,500 inhabitants.

1907 The Swedish state becomes part owner of LKAB. The shares are divided into two classes; common and preferred. TGO holds the common shares, while the state holds the preferred shares on a voting ratio of 1:10. The first streetcars roll on Kiruna’s streets.

1909 Most of LKAB’s workers join a major national strike. However, the strike is very calm in the Orefields. It is barely mentioned in the minutes of the miners’ union, Gruvtolvan. All mining is now done via machine drilling at Malmberget, where 30% of the ore is mined underground.

1910 Statsrådet, the peak of Kiirunavaara, is blown off with a record explosive charge. The spectacle is witnessed by participants of a major geological congress. About 500 Kiruna residents emigrate, most to Brazil.

1912 Kiruna’s church is consecrated. It is a gift from LKAB to the parish.

1915 The power station at Porjus Power is completed. The northern, Kiruna-Riksgränsen section of the Ore Railway becomes the first large railway in Sweden to be electrified.

1919 The Luossavaara mine is opened.