Sydvaranger

Sydvaranger AS, previously A/S Sydvaranger, is an iron ore mining company operating in Sør-Varanger, Norway. Owned by the Tschudi Group, Sydvaranger owns an open-pit mine at Bjørnevatn and then hauls 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. 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. The mining operations restarted in 2009.