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Norway
COVER_Norway_2015.indd 1
Established 1835
mining-journal.com
A supplement to Mining Journal
02/02/2015 14:15
NORWAY
Norway: a land of opportunities!
N
orway is rich in natural resources.
The mineral industry provides raw
materials for the manufacturing industry, it contributes to value creation and
employment opportunities across Norway,
and it generates export revenues. Needless
to say, the mineral industry is an important
sector and a priority for the Norwegian
government.
There is a need for new mineral extraction
to contribute to national and international
demand for minerals. Good geophysical data
is a key component in assessing the mineral
resource potential. The coverage of highquality geophysical data for both northern
and southern parts of Norway has increased
with mapping programmes.
Our long-term goal is to steadily increase
the national coverage of the basic geophysical, geological and geochemical data, which
are fundamental to the exploration for mineral deposits.
Norway is a major supplier to the European
and world markets of a range of industrial
minerals: titanium ‘white’ pigment; calcium
carbonate slurry, for use in paper and
other applications; olivine; graphite;
and high-purity quartz, which is used for
a range of high-technological applications.
Among many new projects currently
being developed, raw materials have been
assessed as critical in a recent review made
by the EU.
When it comes to further developing the
mineral industry, Norway has many advantages: a varied, well-exposed geology; a long
coastline; a technologically sophisticated
society; and good infrastructure, including
ready access to hydro-electrical power.
Norway is also business-friendly, and was
rated as sixth in the 2015 World Bank ‘Ease of
doing business’ ranking.
Fast facts: Norway
Total area: 385,178km2, including Jan Mayen and the Svalbard archipelago.
Neighbours: Finland (736km land boundary), Sweden (1,630km), Russia (196km)
Population: 5.14 million (July 2014)
Main towns: Oslo (624,000), Bergen (268,000), Trondheim (180,000) (01.01.13)
Languages: Norwegian and Sami: a large part of the population is fluent in English.
Independence: June 7, 1905 (Norway declared the union with Sweden dissolved).
Government: Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The governing
coalition comprises ministerial posts held by the Conservative Party and Progress Party.
The Prime Minister is Erna Solberg (Conservative Party)
Currency: Norwegian kroner (NK) 100 kroner = €11.25 = US$13.09 (19.01.15)
GDP: US$512.6 billion (nominal value, World Bank 2013) – 25th place
GDP per capita: US$100,819 (World Bank 2010-14) – 1st place
Unemployment rate: 3.5 % (February 2014)
Average life expectancy: Female: 83.4 years; male: 79.4 years
Natural resources: Petroleum, natural gas, fish, timber, hydro-electric power, iron, copper,
lead, zinc, titanium minerals, natural stone, dolomite, marble, graphite
Coastline: 28,953km (includes mainland 2,532km, as well as long fjords and minor
indentations), islands – 71,963km.
Terrain: Glaciated, mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys,
small, scattered plains, coastline deeply indented by fjords, Arctic tundra in the north.
Elevation extremes: Highest point – Galdhøpiggen 2,469m.
(Main source: Statistics Norway - http://www.ssb.no/ , Statistical Yearbook for 2013)
It is our goal to ensure business diversity by
strengthening the competitiveness of the
Norwegian mineral industry.
In our government declaration, we have
stated that we want to facilitate growth in
the sector by ensuring predictable and
knowledge-based planning processes. It is
important for the government to ensure a
stable business framework for this energyintensive industry, and promote growth and
long-term value creation.
We look forward to welcoming you to
Norway!
Monica Mæland
Minister of Trade and Industry
Photo: Hans Jørgen Brun
Editorial
Contents
This is Norway
3
Production and potential
4
The Directorate of Mining – the Minerals Act and its Implementation 9
Norsk Bergindustri – the Norwegian Mineral Industry
10
Kodal Minerals – phosphate project in South Norway
11
REE and thorium potential of the Fen Carbonatite Complex
12
LNS mining and construction operations – from Pole to Pole
13
The Engebø rutile project:
Strengthening Norway’s mineral industry
14
Nussir – Norway’s next copper mine?
15
Store Norske – 100 years in the Arctic
16
Omya Hustadmarmor AS in Norway
17
Norway’s metal production
18
Tschudi Shipping – logistics in the Arctic
19
Geological Survey: Services for industry
20
Contact information
20
Cover (main photo): Nordic Mining preparing for drilling in the Reinfjord
intrusion, Finnmark county; Bottom left: Grubse olivine quarry (Sibelco);
Bottom right: Hammerfall dolomite mine (Omya)
Photos: Nordic Mining; S. E. Hansen; Omya
2
Mining Journal special publication – Norway
02-20_Norway_2015.indd 2
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© Aspermont Media 2015
ISSN 0026-5225
February 2015
04/02/2015 15:56
NORWAY
This is Norway
N
orway occupies the western part of
the Scandinavian Peninsula in
northern Europe: the island of Jan
Mayen in the mid-Atlantic and the Arctic
archipelago of Svalbard are also in Norwegian territory. The country shares a long border to the east with Sweden; its northernmost region is bordered by Finland to the
south and Russia to the east.
Norway has experienced rapid economic
growth in the past 60 years, particularly as a
result of the large oil and gas deposits discovered in the late 1960s. Today it ranks among
the wealthiest countries in the world. Norway
is the world’s 11th-largest oil exporter; the
petroleum industry accounts for more than a
fifth of its GDP, and the country saves almost
all state revenue from the petroleum sector
in a sovereign wealth fund.
Norway also has rich resources of gas, minerals, hydropower, fish and timber. The Norwegian mineral and mining industry had a
turnover of NK13 billion in 2013, and
exported products valued at NK7.6 billion.
The mineral and mining industry is of great
significance in outlying regions. It had, in
2013, 6,200 employees at 1,169 producing
quarries or mines operated by 865 companies.
Some famous
Norwegians
•
Roald Amundsen,
Fridtjof Nansen and
Thor Heyerdahl
explorers
Roald Amundsen
•
Edvard Grieg
composer
Edvard
Grieg
Edvard Munch
artist
•
Henrik Ibsen
playwright
•
Gro Harlem Brundtland
stateswoman
•
Grete Waitz
long-distance runner
•
Magnus Carlsen
the current World Chess
Champion
“The Norwegian mineral
and mining industry had a
turnover of NK13 billion in
2013, and exported products
valued at NK7.6 billion”
•
Norway, with a population of about five
million, maintains a Scandinavian welfare
model with universal healthcare, subsidised
higher education and a comprehensive social
security system. The government controls
most of the key areas, such as the vital petroleum sector, through large-scale, state-majority-owned enterprises. Although having
rejected EU membership in two referendums,
Norway makes significant contributions to
the EU budget as a member of the European
Economic Area.
A unitary state with administrative subdivisions on two levels known as counties
and municipalities, Norway is a constitutional, hereditary monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with King Harald V as its
Head of State. The Sámi people have a certain
amount of self-determination and influence
over traditional territories through the Sámi
Parliament and the Finnmark Act.
Norway is a long country, extending from
an idyllic, rocky coast with skerries in the
Magnus
Carlsen
south, over 1,700km to a wild, untamed
meeting between land and sea in the north.
Life in the capital, Oslo, and in a fishing village in the Arctic, are two different worlds.
Norway is known for spectacular nature – its
fjords, mountains, the midnight sun and the
aurora borealis: much of the country (including Svalbard) is easily accessible by regular
airline routes.
Norway is a founding member of the UN,
NATO, the Council of Europe and the Nordic
Council, and is a member of the European
Economic Area, the WTO and the OECD. Innovation Norway is the Norwegian government’s instrument for innovation and
development of Norwegian enterprises and
industry, and the official trade representative
abroad.
For more information on Innovation Norway, visit: www.innovasjonnorge.no/no/english/#.VK5wKSvF-t8
February 2015
02-20_Norway_2015.indd 3
Mining Journal special publication – Norway
3
02/02/2015 14:51
NORWAY
Production and potential
Metal deposits in production
Iron ore
Important iron-ore deposits occur in:
• 1) The Archaean banded iron formations
in Sør-Varanger, near the border with
Russia; and
• 2) The Neoproterozoic sedimentary
sequences in the Caledonide Orogen,
especially those north of Mo i Rana.
The Sør-Varanger ores, discovered in 1866,
were mined from 1907 to 1996 and from
2009 by a Norwegian-Australian Company,
Northern Iron Ltd. Total remaining resources
and reserves as of January 1, 2014, are
466.9Mt, containing 31% Fetot (cut-off 15%
Fetot).
(www.northerniron.com.au).
The deposit is connected to the deep-water
port of Kirkenes by an 8km-long railway. Pro-
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Mining Journal special publication – Norway
02-20_Norway_2015.indd 4
Photo: H. Schiellerup
T
he geology of mainland Norway is
dominated by the Caledonide Orogen, extending over 1,500km from
Bergen in the southwest to the northernmost
part of the country.
Within the Caledonides there are windows
of mainly Mesoproterozoic rocks, predominantly granitoids, but also including
supracrustal sequences. Archaean and
Palaeoproterozoic rocks of the Fennoscandian Shield are exposed west of the Caledonides in north Norway and southeast of
the Caledonides along the border with Finland and Russia.
Southeastern Norway is dominated by
Mesoproterozoic rocks and by the Oslo Graben, which contains volcanic and intrusive
complexes spanning the period from Late
Carboniferous to Early Triassic, emplaced into
Cambro-Silurian sediments. There are almost
no exposures on land of the Mesozoic and
Tertiary sequences found on the continental
shelf. Norway’s landscape has been sculpted
by deep tropical weathering, probably of
Mesozoic age, in structurally defined zones,
with major uplift in the Tertiary followed by
glaciation and much direct evidence of neotectonic activity.
Svalbard, halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, lies between 74°N
and 81°N. Its geology includes Lower Tertiary
coal seams which have been mined for over
100 years. The Svalbard Treaty, signed in
1920 by 14 countries, granted Norway sovereignty of the archipelago but gave the right
to own property, including mineral rights, to
nationals of all the signatory countries: over
40 countries have now signed the treaty.
Kronos Titan Tellenes mine, source of ca. 7% of global ilmenite production
duction in 2014 has been at a rate of 2.4Mt/y
concentrate (68.5% Fe and <4.5% SiO2). The
dramatic fall in iron-ore prices has had a serious impact on the operation: among the
strategies adopted are maintenance of the
aim to double production by 2020 and reductions in wages for all staff.
The deposits north of Mo i Rana were
known in the 18th century and were first
mined from 1902. The orebody being mined
currently was stated in 2011 to contain a
resource of 350Mt containing 41% haematite
and 6% magnetite. Total resources in the
concession area have been stated to be
600Mt. Rana Gruber is a subsidiary of
Leonhard Nilsen & Sons (see p13). Annual production is currently 1Mt of haematite concentrate and 100,000t of magnetite
concentrate as well as a range of speciality
products including pigments: total production in 2013 was 1.45Mt. Rana Gruber has also
felt the impact of the fall in iron-ore prices, in
this case leading to a reduction in manpower.
On November 18, 2014 the company
announced an agreement with Tata Steel for
the delivery of 6Mt of concentrate in the
period 2015-20.
Titanium minerals
Norway and Ukraine are the only Ti mineralproducing countries in Europe. The only
deposit presently in production in Norway,
mined by Titania AS (part of Kronos Titan), is
the world-class Tellenes ilmenite deposit in
the Neoproterozoic Rogaland Anorthosite
Province in southwest Norway.
The deposit lies in an ilmenite-rich norite
intrusion within anorthosite: it was stated (MJ
Norway Supplement, February 2010), to contain, in 2010, proved reserves of 200Mt with
around 30% ilmenite and possible reserves of
375Mt. The ore contains a small percentage
of nickel-bearing sulphides which yield
around 8,000t/y of nickel concentrate. Production of ilmenite concentrate in 2013 was
826,126t, of which 55.6% was exported. Titanium pigment is produced at another Kronos
plant, at Fredrikstad, southeast of Oslo and
titanium slag and pig iron at the Eramet plant
at Tyssedal in southwest Norway, a plant
which the company states is unique in Europe
and one of only five of its kind in the world.
Industrial mineral deposits in
production
Carbonates
Some 6.4Mt of various calcite and dolomite
products were produced in 2013, based on
17 mining operations in a spectrum of carbonate types, ranging from non-metamorphic limestone to high-grade metamorphic
calcite marbles and dolomites formed during
the Caledonian orogeny.
Resources are large in many of these operations: an additional five deposits of limestone and calcite marble and eight of
dolomite have been documented.
Ground calcite carbonate (GCC, calcite
slurry) is produced at the Omya Hustadmarmor processing plant at Elnesvågen on the
western coast of south Norway; the main
supplier is the Akselberg quarry (Brønnøy
Kalk) near Brønnøysund in central north
Norway. Hustadmarmor is the world’s largest
supplier of calcium carbonate slurry for the
paper industry.
Fine-grained graphitic carbonate suitable
for production of lime and precipitated calFebruary 2015
02/02/2015 14:51
NORWAY
Simplified geological map of Norway
Source: Ø. Nordgulen
February 2015
02-20_Norway_2015.indd 5
Mining Journal special publication – Norway
5
02/02/2015 14:51
Linnajarvi, talc
Hammerfall, dolomite
Løvgavlen, dolomite
Ertenvågdalen, dolomite
Mårnes, quartzite
Ljøsenhammeren, limestone
Nasafjell, quartz
Seljeli, dolomite
Granåsen, dolomite
Nakkan/Altermark, talc
Melkfjell, quartzite
NORWAY
Fagervollan, limestone
Hattfjelldal, limestone
selberg, limestone
Industrial mineral deposits
Kongsmoen, limestone
a, limestone
of national interest
Tana, quartzite
Stjernøy,
nepheline syenite/apatite
Raudfjellet, magnesite/talc
Svanvik, quartz
Verdal, limestone
Reinfjorden, olivine
Karlsøy, dolomite
Nakken, dolomite
Trælen, graphite
limestone
Skallelv, quartzite
Potrasbukt, dolomite
Skøelv, dolomite
Jennestad, graphite
Breivoll, limestone
seter, talc
Gausdal, limestone
Evenes, limestone
Fjelldalsheia, limestone
In production
Hekkelstrand, dolomite
Kjøpsvik, limestone
Not in production
Drag, quartz
Furuberget, limestone
Hole, limestone
Metallic ore deposits
Linnajarvi, talc
Hammerfall, dolomite
Løvgavlen, dolomite
Ertenvågdalen, dolomite
Mårnes, quartzite
of national interest
Ljøsenhammeren, limestone
Nasafjell, quartz
Nakkan/Altermark, talc
Melkfjell, quartzite
Seljeli, dolomite
atite
"
Fagervollan, limestone
Granåsen, dolomite
Dalen, limestone
Ødegården, apatite
agerø, quartzite
ar
Ulveryggen/
Nussir, copper
"
Karenhaugen, PGE/copper
Hattfjelldal, limestone
Akselberg, limestone
Bjørnevatn, iron
" Gallujav'ri, nickel
" Rai'tevarri, copper/gold
eldspar/quartz
Kongsmoen, limestone
Hestvika, limestone
Selvåg, titanium/iron
Raudfjellet, magnesite/talc
Breivik,
limestone
Åheim, olivine
Bidjovagge,
gold/copper
" Andørja, iron/titanium
"
Verdal, limestone
" Bruvann, nickel/copper
Glærum, limestone
Raudbergvik, olivine
Onilsavatn, olivine
Steinsvik, olivine
Bryggja, olivine
Engebøfjellet, rutile/garnet
"
Sulitjelma, copper/gold
Nyseter, talc
In production
Gausdal, limestone
Raudberget, talc
Gjeddevann,
gold
"
" Mauken, gold
Visnes/
Naas/
Langnes,
limestone
"
"
Gudvangen, anorthosite
Høgtuva, beryllium
Not in production
Ørtfjell, iron
" "
" Mofjellet, zink/copper/lead/gold
Furuberget, limestone
Hole, limestone
Kolsvik, gold
Kvalvik, quartz
Nesodden, quartz
"
" Joma, copper
"
Hesjafjellet, quartz
Bjerkreim, apatite
Skorovatn, copper/zink
"
Kodal, apatite
Skiftesmyr/Godejord, copper/zink
Dalen, limestone
Ødegården, apatite
Kragerø, quartzite
Knipane, feldspar
Glamsland, feldspar/quartz
" Løkken, copper/zink
"" Rødsand, iron
" Hersjø/Røros-Tydal, copper/zink
Heindalen, iron/titanium "
"
Vakkerlien, nickel/copper
Sjøholt, iron/vanadium
" Grimsdal/Folldal, zink
Engebøfjellet/Naustdal,
" " rutile/titanium
" Orkheia, rutile/titanium
"
Espedalen, nickel
"
In production
"
Not in production
Nordli, molybdenum
"
Ertelien, nickel
"
" Kisgruva, copper/zink/selenium
Fen, niobium
Bjerkreim, ilmenite/
vanadium
"
Knaben, molybdenum
"
"
"
Sæteråsen, niobium
"
" Kodal, titanium/iron/phosphorus
Ødegårdens verk, rutile/titanium
Industrial mineral and metallic ore
deposits of national interest
"
Tellnes, ilmenite/nickel
6
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February 2015
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NORWAY
cium carbonate (PCC) is mined near Verdal in
central Norway by Verdalskalk. Cement producer Norcem, a part of the Heidelberg
Group, operates two cement plants, at Breivik
in south Norway and at Kjøpsvik in north Norway, each using carbonate raw material from
nearby quarries.
Two companies produce dolomite in
northern Norway: Omya Hustadmarmor,
from the Hammerfall and Seljeli deposits in
the central part of Nordland county; and
Franzefoss Miljøkalk, from the Hekkelstrand
deposit west of Narvik.
Graphite
Skaland Graphite on the island of Senja,
southwest of Tromsø (part of the LNS Group
– see p13) is the largest of three producers of
flake graphite in the EU 35 group of countries: the deposit has the highest grade of
deposits in production in the world (31%).
Output in 2013 was 6,207t. Reserves are
1.8Mt, in addition to which there are several
other deposits in the region.
Nepheline syenite
Norway has been a significant producer of
nepheline syenite since the 1960s; current
production is 320,000t/y (2013). The mine, at
Stjernøy near Alta in the northernmost part
of the country, is operated by Sibelco. The
deposit is a lens-shaped body of nepheline
syenite in a 530Ma-old alkaline intrusion, part
of the Seiland magmatic province within the
Caledonian nappe sequence. The end-products are potassium-feldspar and nephelinerich concentrates, to be used in the glass and
ceramics industries.
Olivine
Olivine production in Norway (1.7Mt in 2013)
accounts for around 40% of world production of industrial-mineral grade olivine. The
olivine is produced from the Sibelco mine in a
dunite body at Almklovdalen near Åheim in
west Norway, which has, for many decades,
been known for the high Mg:Fe ratio of its
olivine, typically in the range 88-91% of the
Mg end-member, forsterite.
Three-quarters of the production is used
for slag conditioning in the iron and steel
industry, while the rest is mainly used in the
foundry industry and for a variety of refractory applications.
A new application, in recent years, has
been the use of olivine granules for absorption of heavy metals in areas with various
types of pollution in addition. Åheim olivine
is also intended to be used for magnesium
production in the SilMag project, which aims
to re-establish magnesium production in
Norway. The olivine resources at Almklovdalen are thought to exceed 2,000Mt.
(www.tpweek.com/Article/1937474/SilMag-to-reopendisused-magnesium-plant-in-Norway.html)
February 2015
02-20_Norway_2015.indd 7
Silica
Silica resources in Norway comprise quartzite,
hydrothermal quartz and pegmatite deposits.
Total production of silica in 2013 was around
1.45Mt, mainly as lump-quartz for domestic
use. Elkem is the largest producer of lump
quartz, with two quarries, one in Neoproterozoic quartz sandstones at Tana in the northeasternmost part of Norway producing
1.2Mt/y (with LNS as operator – see p13) and
the other in Caledonian orthoquartzites at
Mårnes near Bodø, Nordland (0.22Mt/y). The
lump quartz is mainly used by Elkem and Fesil
in production of ferrosilicon. Elkem is also a
major producer of silicon metal, mainly based
on imported raw materials, but is presently in
the final stages of permitting for opening production from a deposit of silicon-metal quality hydrothermal quartz (Nasafjell) north of
Mo i Rana. Eramet Norway AS controls quarries near Kragerø where lump-quartz from
Mesoproterozoic orthoquartzites is produced
for company smelters manufacturing siliconmanganese alloy.
High-purity quartz concentrate is produced from granitic pegmatites of Palaeoproterozoic age by TheQuartzCorp at Drag,
south of Narvik. The company also receives
shipments of quartz from other deposits.
Potential – metals
Copper-zinc(-lead)
Most old mines are in the volcanic successions of the Caledonides, where mining goes
back to around 1630. The most important
districts, with tonnages mined and grades,
are:
• Sulitjelma (25Mt grading 1.8% Cu and
0.9% Zn);
• Joma and other deposits in the Grong
district (17.5Mt grading 1.4% Cu and 1.8%
Zn);
• Mofjellet and Bleikvassli south of Mo i
Rana (9.35Mt grading 3.8% Zn, 0.22% Cu
and 1.4% Pb);
• Røros (7.5Mt, from 12 mines in 333 years,
grading around 3% Cu and 4.5% Zn);
• Folldal (4.45Mt grading 1.4% Cu and 2.6%
Zn);
• Tverrfjellet (15Mt grading 1.0% Cu, 1.2%
Zn, 0.2% Pb, 36% S); and
• Løkken (24Mt grading 2.3% Cu, 1.8% Zn,
0.02% Pb, 16g/t Ag and 0.2g/t Au): Løkken
was the largest known ophiolite-hosted
VMS deposit in the world.
The current focus among these areas is on
the Sulitjelma and Joma areas: Drake
Resources and joint-venture partner Panoramic Resources have, on the basis of new
VTEM data, identified seven new targets in
the Sulitjelma area, while Drake, also on the
basis of geophysical investigations, has identified several targets in the Joma area.
Copper-gold
Several large, low-grade stratabound and epigenetic copper-gold mineralisations occur in
Palaeoproterozoic greenstone belts in Finnmark in northernmost Norway. The supracrustal sequences comprise tholeiitic to
komatiitic metavolcanic rocks and clastic
metasediments deposited during extensional
events.
In the Repparfjord tectonic window disseminations and veinlets of chalcopyrite,
bornite and chalcocite occur in sandstone in
the Ulveryggen deposit and in dolomite,
schist and sandstone in the Nussir deposit
(see p15). Results released by Nussir ASA in
the course of 2014 prove the deposit to be
the largest copper deposit found so far in
Norway.
Orogenic Au-Cu deposits are widespread
in northern Fennoscandia. The Bidjovagge
Au-Cu mine yielded 6t gold and 24,000t copper from 1985 to 1991, averaging 4.1g/t Au
and 1.19% Cu. It comprises several small orebodies totalling 2.3Mt of crude ore of chalcopyrite, native gold and locally, subordinate
gold telluride grading 1.62g/t Au and 1.08 %
Cu.
www.arcticgold.se/bidjovagge.html.
The mineralisations occur in strongly sheared,
albitised graphitic sedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks, with spatially associated syenodioritic dykes, in the Kautokeino Greenstone
Belt. The extensive Raitevarre deposit, in the
Karasjok Greenstone Belt, comprises lowgrade Au-Cu mineralisations in altered,
sheared hornblende gneiss.
In the Palaeoproterozoic sequences several deposits of copper-gold in carbonatequartz veins are found.
Gold
Concentrations of gold >1g/t are found in
many types of ore deposit in Norway, and as
alluvial gold in rivers in all the geological
provinces. Bidjovagge (see above) is the only
mineable deposit found so far.
The total amount of gold produced since
1750 is about 12t, including gold extracted
metallurgically as a by-product from sulphide
concentrates from ores in the Caledonides.
Sizeable deposits also include the Sankt
Jonsfjorden mineralisation on Svalbard and
the Gjeddevann Au-As deposit close to
the Russian border: the latter consists of sulphide mineralisation extending several kilometres along strike, with gold grades up to
10g/t.
The Sveconorwegian deposits are mainly
small mineralised quartz veins which become
auriferous in sulphide-bearing segments representing the orebodies. These contain variable proportions of pyrite, chalcopyrite,
bismuth sulphides and native gold, eg. in the
quartz veins of Eidsvoll near Oslo. The gold
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grades reach several hundred g/t but the tonnages are <0.1Mt. The Grinder deposit and
others northeast of Oslo are a different type,
associated with pyritised phyllonitic sericite
schists, related to a regional mylonite zone
extending northwards from Gothenburg in
Sweden. The grades are generally low,
around 0.5g/t Au, but the tonnages are large.
Molybdenum
Molybdenum deposits in old mining districts
and in new areas are being evaluated using
new ideas and deposit models. About 200
molybdenite deposits/occurrences are registered in south Norway, in the Meso-/Neoproterozoic Sveconorwegian terrane and in the
Permian Oslo Graben.
In the Sveconorwegian terrane, molybdenite occurs in both metamorphogenic and in
intra-/exomagmatic quartz-feldspar veins;
porphyry-style mineralisations may also exist.
Molybdenite was mined at Knaben from
1885 to 1973; in total, about 8Mt grading
around 0.2% MoS2.
Extensive molybdenum exploration was
carried out in the Oslo Graben in the 1970s,
with the Nordli porphyry-style deposit, which
contains 219Mt grading 0.13% MoS2 (cut-off
0.13% MoS2) (Intex) as the main discovery;
this is said to be the largest potentially mineable molybdenum deposit in western Europe.
Nickel-copper
Nickel was mined for 100 years until two
mines were closed at the end of the Second
World War. Thereafter there have been several periods of active prospecting, especially
in the 1970s. Glencore has a nickel refinery in
south Norway, opened in 1910 on the basis of
available hydroelectric power and then
active mines. One deposit, Bruvann, 30km
southwest of Narvik, was mined from 19892003. The mineralisation occurs mainly as
interstitial sulphide in olivine cumulate in the
Silurian intraorogenic Råna layered mafic
intrusion.
Mining yielded 8.5Mt grading 0.52% Ni
and 0.1% Cu in the period 1989-2002.
The PGE content of the mineralisation is
abnormally low. Remaining measured
resources have been stated to be 9.15Mt,
averaging 0.36% Ni (cut-off 0.30% Ni) or alternatively 5.5Mt grading 0.39% Ni (cut-off
0.35% Ni) (by previous claim-holder Scandinavian Highlands).
Nickel-copper mineralisations occur in
three main settings:
• 1) In mafic intrusions and metavolcanic
units in Palaeoproterozoic units in north
Norway;
• 2) In numerous, usually small, mafic/ultramafic intrusions in the Meso-Proterozoic
of south Norway; and
• 3) In small to medium-sized mafic intrusions, some of them layered (including
Råna), in the Caledonides.
8
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The mineralisation in the Gallujavri Ni-CuPGE sulphide-bearing ultramafic intrusion in
Finnmark in north Norway resembles that of
the 2050Ma Keivitsä-Satovaara Complex in
Finland.
A 2.5km-long Ni-Cu mineralised zone
shows assays up to 2.45ppm Pt+Pd+Au. Geochemical and geophysical data are available
and core from eight drillholes.
The Espedalen mineralisation is one of
numerous nickel-copper mineralisations in
Meso-Proterozoic intrusions in south Norway. Claims are held by Drake Resources,
which has documented inferred and indicated resources totalling 8.96Mt, including
1Mt of inferred resource at the Stormyra
deposit, grading 1.00% Ni, 0.42% Cu and
0.04% Co
drk.live.irmau.com/IRM/Company/ShowPage.aspx/
PDFs/1480-10000000/AnnualReporttoShareholders
The Seiland magmatic province in northernmost Norway includes four intrusives of
so-called Alaska type (commonly consisting
of gabbroic rocks, intruded by younger bodies of dunite, both showing magmatic layering). Nordic Mining has discovered a
stratiform Ni-Cu-PGE mineralisation in the
Reinfjord intrusion (see p14).
Critical raw materials
The revised EU list of Critical Raw Materials
was released in May 2014. Norway is a producer of several of the commodities defined
as such and has a potential for others.
ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/raw-materials/critical/
index_en.htm
Phosphate rock
Concentration of reserves (74.6% in one
country) and elevated contents of trace metals such as cadmium and uranium in many
sedimentary (phosphorite) deposits are
among the factors leading to phosphate rock
being defined as critical.
Norway has numerous magmatic (apatite)
deposits of various types, with low contents
of the above metals, but commonly enriched
in REE (contents in apatite concentrates
range from 3,800 to 11,064ppm (Ihlen et al,
2014).
The Kodal deposit has a JORC-compliant
resource (indicated and inferred) of 49Mt at
0.5% P cut-off (see p11); grades vary from
4.9% (open pit) to 6.8% P2O5 (underground)
(Ihlen et al, 2014).
www.kodalminerals.com
Beryllium
Highly-fractionated Palaeoproterozoic granitic orthogneisses are found in basement
windows in the Caledonides in northern
Norway. The Høgtuva Be deposit includes a
main zone of mineralisation containing
350,000t grading 0.18% Be (cut-off 0.1%) and
850ppm REE. The dominant Be mineral is
phenakite (Be2SiO4).
Fluorspar
Several deposits are known in Telemark
county southwest of Oslo. The Lassedalen
deposit in Kongsberg municipality was
investigated by Norsk Hydro in the 1970s
leading to a resource estimate of 4Mt grading
29% fluorspar based on 28 drill-hole intersections along a strike length of 2.7km. The
exploration rights are held by Tertiary Minerals.
www.tertiaryminerals.com/lassedalen-4.html
Graphite
New targets for graphite exploration have
been identified near the existing Skaland
Graphite mine (see above) but also in the
Vesterålen area SW of Skaland. Graphite has
been mined at Rendalsvik in Nordland county
(1935-45) and deposits are also known on the
south coast of Norway.
Magnesium
SilMag AS is developing a project that plans
to produce magnesium using olivine from
Sibelco’s Åheim deposits as feed. The sole
producers of magnesium in Europe are Russia and Ukraine.
REE
Alkaline to peralkaline plutonic and volcanic
rocks in the Oslo Graben are generally
enriched in REE, niobium, thorium or zirconium. In the Sæteråsen deposit, fine-grained
disseminations of complex REE-Nb-Thsilicates and -oxides occur in trachytic lava.
An approximate estimate of the tonnage and
grades is: around 8Mt grading 0.245% Nb,
0.18% Ce, 0.11% La, 0.075% Y and
0.069% Nd (Ihlen, 1983): claims are held by
REE Mining.
Other potential targets include:
• The Fen carbonatite southwest of Oslo carries low-grade niobium ores and REE- and
Th-enriched iron-oxide ores which were
mined in the past (see p12);
• Metasomatic albitites with special metal
mineralisations in Palaeoproterozoic
greenstone belts in northern Norway and
in Meso-Proterozoic gabbroic sills in
southern Norway. The Biggejavri deposit
in the Kautokeino Greenstone Belt is
enriched in REE, scandium and uranium;
and
• NYF-type granite pegmatites with accessory REE-, Nb-Ta-, Ti-, Be-, Th- or U-bearing
minerals occur in the Sveconorwegian
orogenic belt in southern Norway and in
the Palaeoproterozoic granites in northern
Norway.
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The Directorate of Mining: the
Minerals Act and its implementation
T
he current Minerals Act came into
force on January 1, 2010. It has involved numerous changes in terminology and tasks, including the change in the
organisation’s name from Mines Inspectorate
to Directorate of Mining with Commissioner
of Mines at Svalbard (DMF).
Claims according to the
Minerals Act
The state is, according to the Minerals Act,
the owner of all metals with a specific gravity
above 5g/cm3, and of all minerals containing
these metals, as well as titanium and arsenic
and ores containing these metals. Minerals
that contain only traces of these metals are
not owned by the state.
The element sulphur is, in addition to the
above-mentioned minerals, the property of
the state when it occurs as pyrite or pyrrhotite. Sulphur, in other forms, is owned by the
ground owner.
All other metals and minerals are the property of the ground owner. This includes
both alluvial gold and bog iron ore. State
ownership of various minerals is common
throughout continental Europe. The online
portal, www.prospecting.no, a co-operative
service provided by the Directorate of Mining
and the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU),
shows valid permits, but not applications
which are being processed and which may
have seniority (priority) in the areas concerned. The overview of approved permits is
updated weekly.
Exploration permit
The term ‘claim’ was replaced by’exploration
permit’, with the advent of the Act. An exploration permit for the state’s minerals gives
entitlement to exploration within a defined
area and not as a right related to a defined
deposit.
The permit holder has a right to explore
for, and to apply for an extraction permit for
all the deposits of the state’s minerals within
the permit area. The maximum area of an
exploration permit is 10km2. No side may be
“The minimum area of an
exploration permit is 1km2.
The Directorate of Mining
may approve exceptions to
this rule in special cases”
February 2015
02-20_Norway_2015.indd 9
Photo: Olaug Grådal, Houmbgaarden
See: www.dirmin.no/Regelverk_Veiledninger/Minerals%20Act.pdf for the text in English
Røros, where copper was mined from 1645-1978
shorter than 1km and the boundaries must
be parallel with the grid lines in the UTM system. The minimum area of an exploration
permit is 1km2. The Directorate of Mining
may approve exceptions to this rule in special
cases. Application may be made and acquisition approved, for an unlimited number of
contiguous areas.
Extraction permit
An individual or company holding the exploration permit with the highest priority has
the sole right to apply for an extraction permit, according to §29 in the Act.
In order to be awarded an extraction permit, the applicant must document the finding of a deposit of the state’s minerals, which
is or may be economically viable within a
foreseeable period of time. The applicant
must provide documentation of the extent,
geometry, grades of, and a viable mineral
processing plan for the deposit. The extraction permit shall not have a greater extent
than the deposit.
The extraction area is granted and defined
by the Directorate of Mining. An individual
extraction area permit cannot exceed 1km2.
The applicant may be awarded the number
of extraction permits necessary to cover the
deposit.
Pilot extraction
The Act stipulates that a permit is required for
pilot extraction of both the state’s and the
ground owner’s minerals. Permits are granted
by the Directorate of Mining.
Ground owners’ minerals
Exploration or extraction of a ground owner’s
minerals may be carried out by the ground
owner or by others who claim an agreement
with the ground owner.
Ground owners’ minerals can, in effect, be
divided into building materials (hard-rock
aggregate, gravel, sand and clay), industrial
minerals and natural stone. Exploitation of
ground owners’ minerals is regulated by the
Act, as is the case for the state’s minerals.
Operating licence
The Act requires the granting of an operating
licence for total extraction of volumes in
excess of 10,000m3. The licence must be
granted by the Directorate of Mining before
the start of the operation. The limit of
10,000m3 of material does not apply to
extraction of natural stone, which means that
a licence is required for any extraction of natural stone, regardless of the volume.
An operating licence can be granted only
to the holder of an extraction permit. This
applies to both the state’s and the ground
owner’s minerals. Consideration of the granting of a licence must include emphasis on the
applicant’s qualifications in relation to exploitation of the deposit. Granting of the concession must always include definition of the
area to which it applies.
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The Svalbard Treaty and the role
of the Directorate on Svalbard
The Svalbard Treaty, signed in 1920 by 14
countries, granted Norway sovereignty of the
archipelago, but gave the right to own property, including mineral rights, to nationals of
all the signatory countries. In all, 42 countries
have now signed the treaty.
Norway undertook the responsibility (Article 8 of the Treaty) to provide mining regulations for Svalbard. The Mining Code (the
Mining regulations) for Spitsbergen (Svalbard) was approved by Royal Decree in 1925
and include rules for the acquisition of
mining permits and for subsequent mining
activities. The Directorate of Mining with
Commissioner of Mines at Svalbard has
responsibility for both Svalbard and Jan
Mayen, but the law applicable on Jan Mayen
is the Minerals Act of mainland Norway.
The Directorate of Mining assists interested
parties with advice and information on registered occurrences and deposits of mineral
resources on Svalbard.
Exploration licence
All persons who wish to prospect for minerals
on Svalbard must have an exploration
licence. The Directorate of Mining issues
exploration licences which are valid for two
years and which entitle the holder to prospect according to the laws and regulations
applicable on Svalbard. Seven such permits
are valid as of September 2014.
“All persons who wish to
prospect for minerals on
Svalbard must have an
exploration licence”
discovers a deposit must, in the presence of
two witnesses, mark the find in the terrain
and send a written notification to the Directorate of Mining, whereupon the holder is
granted sole right to exploitation of the discovery. A sample should be submitted to the
Commissioner along with the report on the
deposit’s location to allow an assessment of
the material in relation to potential mining of
the deposit. There exist, as of September
2014, 19 discoveries for which no application
for an extraction permit has been received.
Extraction permit
Granting of an extraction permit gives entitlement to extract minerals and rocks within the
areal limits of the permit. Applications for
permits must be sent to the Directorate of
Mining within five years after the deposit is
first marked in the terrain, in the absence of
which the finder loses the right to the deposit.
The Directorate has two years in which to
assess the application, visit the location and
evaluate the deposit.
There were, as of September 30, 2014, 371
valid extraction permits on Svalbard, and a
further 17 permits allocated at a claim survey
held in August 2014, the results of which will
become final in March 2015.
Management of historic mining
sites
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries
has held responsibility for the sites of abandoned historic mines after an agreement
dating from 1988. The Directorate of Mining
carries out remedial measures on behalf of
the Ministry following dialogue with, and
requirements from the Norwegian Environment Agency. The Directorate of Mining also
carries out mapping and investigation of
leakage from abandoned mining areas and
monitors the results of measures taken. There
is a requirement that the copper content in
the main drainage system downstream from
the mine area must not exceed 10µg/l.
Most of the measures taken involved
establishing suitable sites for deposition of
mine waste. Earlier measures in these areas
have resulted in a reduction of total drainage
of copper by 75%: our aim is to achieve
further improvements. The Directorate is
focusing on measures for remediation in four
remaining areas in which the target for the
level of drainage of copper has yet to be
achieved: measures will include solutions
involving capping and natural filtration.
Reporting discoveries
The Mining Regulations are based on the first
finder’s right. The holder of a licence who first
Norsk Bergindustri – the
Norwegian Mineral Industry
E
Photo: Tom Heldal
stablished in 2008, Norsk Bergindustri
represents a strong tradition in the
mining, aggregates and natural stone
industries. Norsk Bergindustri is open for
membership from companies that are exploring for, producing, processing or handling mineral resources in Norway, or companies that otherwise relate to the industry.
Mining has a long tradition in Norway.
Today, however, mineral products are taken
for granted. However – minerals follow us
through life from the sandpit via the mobile
phone to the gravestone. Norway has a high
per-capita consumption of minerals, due
among other things to climatic challenges.
Norsk Bergindustri’s main job is to tell society
about the need for mineral products.
Norsk Bergindustri’s aim as an association
10
Close-up of polished larvikite – Norway’s national
stone: over 200,000t are exported annually
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NORWAY
“Norsk Bergindustri has a
code of ethics, the purpose
of which is to help ensure
that its members play a
positive role in society”
is to be the focal point for discussions about
mining and quarrying in Norway, including
certain aspects of processing.
The organisation’s vision is to achieve a
strong, united Norwegian mineral industry.
Norsk Bergindustri’s core values are to be
long-term, inclusive and brave, open and
responsible.
Norway’s first mineral strategy was presented in 2013. The document outlines goals
for the mineral industry, and for the political
management of geological resources. The
organisation uses the strategy as a guideline
in its co-operation with member companies,
politicians and other interest groups.
Since the election in late 2013, Norway has
been directed by a new Conservative-Progress Party coalition government, led by Erna
Solberg. In its political platform, the government points to the mineral industry as a key
policy area. Norsk Bergindustri considers this
to be a major recognition of the industry and
hopes that it will be the start of an industryfriendly political development.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is
important for the mineral industry. Norsk Bergindustri has a code of ethics, the purpose of
which is to help ensure that its members play
a positive role in society. Its main priorities
are: to be represented in Europe; to influence
decision-makers; to host activities which its
members find relevant; and to complete the
establishment of its small association by
working efficiently.
Norsk Bergindustri’s main goals are to
advance members’ interests through promoting positive visibility and increased
understanding for mining and quarrying
activities, to maintain and develop suitable
and just framework conditions, to create a
good balance between economy, environmental and social responsibility, to secure
suitable competence for the industry, and to
stimulate good dialogue and culture within
the industry.
Norsk Bergindustri (Norwegian Mineral Industry)
welcomes new members. If anyone is considering
Norway as a focus for investment in exploration and
mining, see the contact details on the back cover (p20).
Norsk Bergindustri looks forwards to hearing from you!
February 2015
02-20_Norway_2015.indd 11
Kodal Minerals – phosphate
project in South Norway
Map showing the location of the Kodal Project in southern Norway
K
odal Minerals Plc is developing the
Kodal phosphate and iron deposit in
southern Norway. The deposit was
originally investigated by Norsk Hydro in
three exploration campaigns between 1959
and 1984, including 58 drill holes.
The project is a phosphate and magnetite
deposit with a JORC-compliant resource
(indicated and inferred) of 49Mt at 0.5% P
cut-off. The orebody remains open at depth.
The Kodal 1.9km-long orebody sits in an
almost vertical orientation: it is open at depth
with the deepest drill intersection to date at
300m. The deposit consists of a 20m-wide
main ore zone within a transition zone. The
total width of mineralisation is approximately
120m.
Recent test work has indicated that the
Kodal phosphate can be upgraded on site to
a very high grade of 41.8% P2O5. In addition,
the Kodal phosphate concentrate will have
low levels of contaminants compared to
some other commercial phosphate products
– for example, the cadmium grade is less than
10ppm in concentrate.
The conceptual plan for the Kodal project
is a surface mine operating for 15 years processing 1.6Mt/y of ore followed by three
years processing the transitional material.
The project would produce about
200,000t/y of phosphate concentrate at a
grade of 41.8% P2O5 and 650,000t/y of iron
concentrate at a grade of 62% Fe.
Kodal is currently moving the project
through the planning process in Norway. The
environmental baseline studies are almost
“Kodal is moving the project
through the planning
process in Norway. The
environmental baseline
studies are almost complete”
complete and the ESIA format is about to be
submitted for approval.
Kodal is also exploring for copper at its
Grimeli Project, located around 150km north
of Bergen. There are two previously producing mines on the exploration licences; the
larger produced over three periods from
1759 to 1920 and the smaller, 7km to the
east, between 1871 and 1880. Recent channel sampling has retuned assays up to 7.25%
Cu over 1.7m.
Kodal has completed surface geophysics
over the western part of the licence area and
has identified a 3km-long magnetic anomaly
adjacent to, and extending from the previously mined area.
Kodal intends to drill test this anomaly, and
its extension to the mined areas, in 2015.
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NORWAY
REE and thorium potential of the
Fen Carbonatite Complex
Sven Dahlgren
T
he recent discovery of a large REE
mineralisation increases the possibility of new mining operations in
the Fen Complex. The largest thorium deposit in Europe, also rich in REE, is located within
the complex, but exploitation is not expected
in the near future. The niobium and phosphate potential of the complex is almost unexplored.
The Fen Carbonatite Complex
Photo: S. Dahlgren
This complex is the world type locality for carbonatites, ie. carbonate rock of igneous origin. It covers only 4-5km2 on the surface, but
extends downwards (based on gravity data)
for many kilometres. In spite of the scientific
fame of the complex, numerous scientific
publications, mining operations (iron 16521942; niobium 1953-1965), and repeated
exploration activity, less than half of the surface geology of this small complex is known.
This is due to the extensive cover of Holocene
marine clays and the paucity of drillholes. No
details are known for any of the complex at
depths below 200m. The geology and mineral potential of the complex at depth are
thus virtually unknown.
Aerial photo of the Fen Carbonatite Complex, Norway. The outer boundaries of the complex are shown
by the white dotted line. Place names and mineralisation types shows the location of mineralisations
described in the main text
Drill core of high-grade REE mineralisation
(reddish minerals), drilled by REE Minerals,
Fen March 2014
Niobium and apatite
When exploration for REE in the Fen Complex
began in the late 1960s, it was discovered
that the rødberg (’red rock’), an altered carbonatite stained by haematite, in the old Fen
iron mine area, was enriched in REE minerals.
It was soon realised that large volumes of
rødberg contained 2.5-4% REE.
The REE minerals are monazite, bastnaesite, parisite and synchysite. The generally
small grain size of the REE-minerals (1-50µm)
excluded recovery on an industrial scale at
that time, and no reliable recovery process
has, to the writer’s knowledge, been developed since. Total REE resources are very
uncertain, but are estimated at 400Mt with
an average grade of 0.9% REE oxides.
Additionally, the rødberg in the old iron
mine area is very rich in thorium: grades
reach 0.4% Th, or more, in rich parts, and the
average grade is 872g/t.
A minimum resource estimate is 36,000t
of thorium, but estimates of inferred
resources of the order of 200,000-300,000t
are credible. Thorianite is the main thoriumbearing mineral: its grain size is up to a few
tens of µm. The thorium and REE minerals are
so tiny and relatively homogeneously dispersed in the rock that almost the entire ‘rødberg’ of the iron mine district may be
classified as a ‘high-thorium REE’ mineralisa-
12
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02-20_Norway_2015.indd 12
Photo: S. Dahlgren
REE and thorium
tion. Fen Minerals AS has an extraction permit in this area.
Thorium-poor REE
The company REE Minerals (www.reeminerals.no/no/Forsiden/) has, since 2011, investigated the covered and previously
little-known southeastern part of the Fen
complex. Drilling campaigns undertaken in
2012 and 2014 have revealed a previously
unknown REE resource of considerable size.
It consists of a relatively homogeneous
ankerite carbonatite with low-thorium REE
mineralization. Inferred resources are 84Mt,
with a potential for at least 200Mt, containing
an average of 1.08% REE oxides with highgrade zones containing up to 4.49% REEoxides. The ore has a favourable content of
REE (Nd, Eu, Tb, Dy and Y).
The REE-bearing phases are as in the rødberg, but are much more coarse-grained (up
to several millimetres), and metallurgical
tests are very encouraging for industrial processing of a high-grade REE mineral concentrate.
Niobium was mined between 1953 and 1965
from calcite carbonatites (‘søvite’) at Søve.
Mine shafts extended down to 150m near the
shore of Lake Norsjø, and an adit was worked
southwards into søvites of the central parts of
the complex at Tufte.
The niobium occurs in pyrochlore and
columbite: during mining, the Nb2O5 grade
varied between 0.4 and 0.25%, with 0.35%
quoted as the average.
Apatite is also abundant in the søvites
and averaged 7% in the niobium mines.
The niobium-bearing søvites generally occur
as dykes up to a few metres thick and
are confined to the western part of the Complex.
This area is heavily covered by marine
clays, and there has been almost no exploration drilling after the closure of the Søve
mine. The niobium and phosphate resources
of the Fen Complex cannot thus be quantified at present.
Ongoing activities
In a EURARE-project, the company Fen Minerals AS is addressing the industrial recovery of
REE from the challenging thorium-rich REE
ores in the Fen old iron mine area.
The other company, REE Minerals, continues its exploration of its licence area in the
southeastern part of Fen Complex. The big
question is whether its discovery could be of
world-class.
February 2015
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Photo: S. Dahlgren
NORWAY
LNS mining and construction
operations – from Pole to Pole
T
he LNS Group consists of 16 companies, several of them engaged in
mining. LNS (eng.lns.no) is northern
Norway’s largest and the country’s 15th-largest contractor. The company specialises in
implementing demanding projects in areas
with difficult logistics.
The group’s core business is building roads
and tunnels but it also owns several mines
and is the operating contractor for several
other mining companies.
craft, five barges with up to 800t capacity and
approximately 50 units of various types of
contracting equipment including excavators,
wheel loaders, drill rigs, trucks and dumpers,
etc.
Quartzite quarry in North Norway
Domestic and international
projects
LNS has, in recent years, been involved in
a number of major projects. The company
has, for example, participated in developing
Lofoten’s road link to mainland Norway
(LOFAST), modernising several power stations and in construction of a new export
harbour for iron-ore pellets in Narvik. LNS
also built the UN’s Svalbard Global Seed
Vault.
The company has broad experience with
work outside Norway, including projects on
Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and
in the Antarctic. The group has a separate
company in Chile, and is currently completing a large tunnel project in Hong Kong.
Through the subsidiary LNS Spitsbergen AS
(LNSS), LNS has a high level of activity on
Svalbard. The latest project is the Aappaluttoq Ruby Mine Project, in Greenland, which is
carried out through LNS Greenland A/S. It will
be responsible for developing infrastructure
works and subsequently for mining operations.
Ørtfjell open pit, Rana Gruber
February 2015
02-20_Norway_2015.indd 13
Rubies in outcrop at the Aappaluttoq deposit,
near Fiskenaesset, southwest Greenland
LNS Spitsbergen A/S
Austertana is home to one of the largest
quartzite quarries in the world. LNS is contracted by Elkem Tana to extract quartzite for
production of ferrosilicon. The quarry is
located at around 350m above sea level: the
access road from the quarry to the quay facility has a gradient of 1:7, which is highly
demanding on both crew and equipment.
This transport road is described by equipment manufacturers as the “world’s toughest”.
Rana Gruber A/S – iron mine in
North Norway
LNS Spitsbergen has unique expertise on Arctic conditions. Many years’ experience in the
Arctic and Antarctic has given the company
unique skills in logistics, transport and contracting in these extreme conditions.
Projects in Antarctica have been at the Norwegian Troll station and at Bharati for the
Indian Polar Institute. LNS has also implemented projects on Beeren Island and Hopen
(Svalbard), Jan Mayen (between Svalbard
and Iceland) and on Bouvet Island in the
South Atlantic.
LNS Spitsbergen was, for many years, a
subcontractor for Store Norske Spitsbergen
Kulkompani AS, providing logistical services
at the Svea Nord coal mine. The primary
assignment was to transport coal from the
mine to the Kapp Amsterdam storage area
and to load the coal (up to 3-4 million m3
annually) onto ships.
Rana Gruber (www.ranagruber.no) is one of
Norway’s largest companies in mining and
iron-ore beneficiation and one of the key
companies in Nordland county.
The products are based on Rana Gruber’s
own natural mineral resources, upgraded
and tailored for specific applications and
exported to customers worldwide. The company serve primarily steel producers and the
chemical industry.
Rana Gruber’s subsidiary RG Mineral AS
supplies the various speciality products to
paint manufacturers and to the building and
automotive industries. With 260 employees,
the company currently mines 4.4Mt/y of iron
ore, corresponding to 1.5Mt of concentrates
(hematite and magnetite) and speciality
products.
LNS Greenland A/S
Skaland Graphite A/S
LNS Greenland (LNSG) is a Greenlandic Contracting Company with offices in Nuuk, the
capital of Greenland and at Qaqortoq in South
Greenland: it is owned by the LNS Group
(90.4%) and Greenland Venture A/S (9.6%).
The company’s focus is on the minerals
industry and it offers a wide range of professional services to domestic and foreign companies working on Greenland: it provides
turn-key solutions as well as specific services
within traditional contracting, construction,
diamond drilling, rock blasting, marine operations, diving, camp solutions, catering, consulting, logistics and various other tasks. The
workforce has long-standing experience from
operations in the Arctic: its specialist skill is to
find solutions to demanding projects, in isolated locations with difficult logistics.
The company´s fleet of major equipment
includes a diving/tug boat, three landing
Graphite mining at Skaland began in around
1932 on a vein-type crystalline graphite
deposit; the company was the taken over by
LNS in 2003.
Mining began at the Trælen deposit in
2007; it has proved reserves of 1.7Mt of very
high-grade graphite ore (31%). Modern mining techniques and a new dressing plant
guarantee a consistent production of Silvershine products, which are exported to customers in Central Europe.
Skaland Graphite is the largest producer of
crystalline flake graphite in Europe, with a
capacity of up to 10,000t/y of flake and microflake powder graphite.
Mining Journal special publication – Norway
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02/02/2015 14:52
NORWAY
The Engebø rutile project:
Strengthening Norway’s mineral industry
T
Artist’s impression
of the Engebø
plant site
Graphic: X-form
he Engebø eclogite deposit, in
Naustdal municipality in western
Norway, hosts one of the world’s
largest known resources of natural rutile.
With an average rutile grade of 3.77% TiO2, it
is also the richest deposit, compared to current production and pipeline projects.
Natural levels of uranium and thorium are
among the lowest of any known rutile
deposit. Nordic Mining plans to produce
around 100,000t/y of rutile with a grade of
95% TiO2. This will position Nordic Mining as
one of the world’s major rutile producers.
A JORC-compliant resource estimate
shows that the deposit contains around
154Mt of high-grade ore. A historic estimate,
currently not JORC-classified, indicates that
the total rutile deposit may be as large as
380Mt. Titanium feedstock is scarce in
Europe; Norway and Ukraine are the only producing countries. A new supply of rutile from
Norway will reduce the need for overseas
import to European pigment plants. The
short sailing distance to the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium opens for smaller cargo
size and offers greater flexibility and logistical
advantages compared to overseas shipments. The planned rutile supply from
Engebø will represent a high-grade titanium
feedstock that complements Norway’s current ilmenite production by the KRONOS
company, Titania AS.
The mining scenario at Engebø envisages
an initial, open-pit production phase of 10-15
years, followed by an underground phase of
up to 35 years with a total mine-life of around
50 years. The eclogite orebody lies within a
350m-high mountain located adjacent to the
Førdefjord shoreline, resulting in a limited
footprint for the land-based operations. By
starting extraction ‘top-down’ on the outcropping ore, the mining operation will, with
support of gravity, move ore through a ‘glory
hole’ shaft down to an underground crushing
facility. Crushed material will be transported
by a 400m-long conveyor belt to the milling
and processing facilities. The processing
plant will be situated 150m from a deep-sea
quay for shipping of products in multi-size
vessels. The industrial facilities are in an area
with good access to infrastructure such as
roads, hydropower and water.
The tailings will be deposited using a deepsea disposal system that transports the tailings to the fjord bottom at about 320m depth
in Førdefjord. The tailings consist of inert,
relatively coarse minerals: thorough environmental assessments document that the tailings can be deposited safely with regard to
environmental aspects. Norway has longstanding experience in operating fjord tailings disposal as a sustainable solution with
long-term safety and integrity.
Due to the harmless properties of the
waste minerals, they have also been qualified
as capping material in Norway, to be used to
cover contaminated sea sediments in harbours and waste from industrial sites. Further, Nordic Mining expects a significant part
of the tailings to be sold for various applications such as landfill, flood protection material, soil improvement, etc. locally and
elsewhere in Europe.
The Engebø project will represent a new
cornerstone business in a rural area of Nor-
About Nordic Mining
Nordic Mining ASA is a resource company
with focus on high-end industrial minerals
and metals in Norway and internationally.
Nordic Mining has rights for exploration
and production of high-purity quartz in
Kvinnherad in Hordaland county southeast of
Bergen through its subsidiary, Nordic Quartz
AS. Nordic Mining’s associated company,
Keliber Oy, in Finland plans to start mining
lithium-bearing spodumene and produce
lithium carbonate.
Nordic Mining holds exploration rights in
the Øksfjord region in Troms and Finnmark to
a prospective area of nickel-copper-PGE mineralisation.
Through the subsidiary Nordic Ocean
Resources AS, Nordic Mining is exploring
opportunities related to seabed mineral
resources. Nordic Mining is listed on Oslo
Axess (www.nordicmining.com).
Photo: Nordic Mining
Winter drilling
at Engebø
way with a high demand for new long-term
employment. The production scheme envisages 170 full-time employees at the mine
site. Studies indicate a further 300 positions
in indirect employment in Norway.
A scenario using rutile as feedstock to produce titanium metal in Norway may constitute an exciting future possibility, using the
significant surplus of hydroelectric power in
the region. The region also hosts many of the
major smelting plants in Norway, and has
several industrial communities with relevant
infrastructure and advanced metallurgical
competence.
The Norwegian government is resolving
the final permits regarding land regulation
and waste disposal for the project. On the
basis of its significant size, high grade, ideal
location and limited footprint, the Engebø
rutile deposit will strengthen Norway’s land
based industry for generations.
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February 2015
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NORWAY
Nussir: Norway’s next copper mine?
N
ussir ASA (www.nussir.no) is a dynamic exploration, development
and mining company established
in 2005 to develop the Nussir and other nearby copper deposits in the Kvalsund municipality, near Hammerfest in north Norway.
Nussir is one of Norway’s major undeveloped copper deposits. Exploration activities
have proved that the ore has a tonnage and
geology which can support the development
of a long-life copper mine. As well as copper,
the ore contains valuable amounts of gold,
silver, platinum and palladium.
The deposit offers excellent prospects of a
rapid mine start – given the presence of existing infrastructure such as proximity to a
deep-sea ice-free port, a major highway,
high-voltage power lines, and a nearby
industrial area is under development. The
company holds a 100% interest in the exploration and mining rights and has a positive
dialogue with the local community.
The deposit, discovered in 1979, was
mapped at the surface and sparsely drilled
over a strike length of 9km in the 1980s and
1990s. The founder of Nussir ASA acquired
the exploration and mining rights in 2000,
and an extensive drilling programme began
in 2006.
In all, 161 holes have been drilled, with a
total length of about 30,000m. A detailed
helicopter-borne geophysical survey and,
locally, ground geophysics have also been
conducted. Recovery tests have been carried
out, and a scoping study was completed in
December 2009. The indicated and inferred
resource so far is 66Mt grading 1.16% Cu,
14.9-18.2g/t Ag with additional values of Au
and PGE. The deposit is still open to west,
east and at depth.
The deposit is located in a Palaeo-Proterozoic supracrustal sequence in the Repparfjord Tectonic Window at 70°27‘ N. This
sequence comprises metavolcanic rocks
varying in composition from calc-alkaline to
tholeiitic, and clastic metasediments deposited in an extensional setting. The copper
mineralisations occur in a thin sequence of
dolomite, schist and sandstone on top of a
2.5km-thick package of coarse clastic metasediments.
The mineralised horizon is about 9km
along strike, dips at 50-60º and has an average width of 3-4m. It has been drilled to
about 1,150m below the surface.
The copper mineralisations consist of disseminations and veinlets of chalcopyrite,
bornite and chalcocite. The host rock and
mineralogy vary along strike: in the west
chalcopyrite dominates in dolomite, whereas
in the east bornite and chalcocite are found
in schist and sandstone with accompanying
elevated contents of precious metals.
Genetically, the deposit resembles other
major sediment-hosted copper deposit such
as those in the Copperbelt in Central Africa
and the Kupferschiefer in central Europe.
The sandstone-hosted Ulveryggen copper
deposit, in the lower part of the clastic
sequence, further substantiates this comparison. It was mined in the 1970s and is currently
being re-evaluated. The remaining proved
mineralisation in the Ulveryggen orebody is
7Mt grading 0.89% Cu.
Both deposits are variably deformed, and
preliminary structural studies allow an alternative interpretation of the genesis of these
copper mineralisations, with a tectonically
controlled primary deposition.
Drilling at the Nussir deposit in late winter
“The deposit offers excellent prospects of a
rapid mine start – given the presence of
existing infrastructure such as proximity to
a deep-sea ice-free port, a major highway,
high-voltage power lines, and a nearby
industrial area is under development”
February 2015
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Mining Journal special publication – Norway
15
02/02/2015 14:52
NORWAY
Store Norske: 100 years in the Arctic
Coal exploration on Svalbard: all drilling
must, to protect the local ecosystems,
take place during the Arctic winter
Location of key coal deposits on Svalbard:
dark green show mines in operation; light
green show potential new deposits
S
tore Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani
AS (www.snsk.no) has mined coal on
the Svalbard archipelago since 1916
and is the northernmost mining operation in
the world. Almost 100 years of mining in the
high Arctic has given the company expertise
in the development and use of technology
and logistics for Arctic conditions that few
others, if any, can match.
Store Norske’s head office is at Longyearbyen (78°N). Three underground mines are
currently operating – Mine 7 in Advent Valley,
close to Longyearbyen; Svea Nord, about to
be exhausted; and Lunckefjell, about to open
for regular production near the Svea mining
camp, 60km south of Longyearbyen. Around
1.5Mt/y is produced from the Svea mines,
mainly for export for power production in
Denmark and Germany. A further 75,000t/y is
produced from Mine 7, for the metallurgical
industry and local power production.
The coal seam in Svea Nord is up to 5m
thick and is mined mainly by longwall working. The coal is transported to the surface on
a conveyer belt and then by truck to the harbour at Kapp Amsterdam, 5km away. The
seam in the new Lunckefjell mine is around
2m thick on average, and will also be mined
by longwall working. Additional challenges
include 3.5km truck transport across an
active glacier before connection with the belt
conveyer in the Svea Nord mine. The seam at
Mine 7 averages 1.5m in thickness, and is
mined by room and pillar methods. The
Lunckefjell deposit contains 8.4Mt of extractable reserve, with about 50% PCI-quality,
high-volatile bituminous coal. Regular production is expected to start in March this
year. The next target is the peripheral zone of
the present main mine, Svea Nord, followed
by Ispallen, also in the Svea area. From 2028,
the plan is to concentrate all mining activity
near Longyearbyen by opening the Bassen
resource in Operafjellet. Mining claims for the
16
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02-20_Norway_2015.indd 16
Bassen area were granted by the Commissioner of Mines at Svalbard on August 26,
2014 and the deposit is being drilled.
Natural challenges
Modern mining demands the use of advanced
machinery, efficient infrastructure and solid
experience. It also requires well-oiled logistics. The challenges in the high Arctic are
greater than in most parts of the globe. At
Svea, the company manages an airfield, harbour, power station and a settlement – with a
power supply, waste systems and transport
to a location completely without link roads,
on a fjord which freezes over for half the year.
The sun disappears below the horizon for
nearly half the year and there is total darkness for over three months. Meeting these
challenges successfully calls for broad technological and human skills. Store Norske is
proud of our people and our abilities.
The company’s long tradition and knowledge of the geology of the
Arctic and of the technology
needed to operate here has,
since 1993, been further
developed in co-operation with
the University Centre of Svalbard, adding to its longterm co-operation with the
Norwegian University of Science and Technology and
Stjørdal Technical College.
Store Norske is the main
employer in Longyearbyen, a town of about
2,100 inhabitants. Over 500 of a total of 1,200
in employment in the community depend
directly on the company. The long-term stability of the mining company makes it the
most important commercial activity and stabilising factor in the Svalbard community.
Longyearbyen, with its international airport, port facilities, varied commercial activity, university campus, research activities, and
tourism, is also developing as a communications centre in the Arctic. Possible future
development of the Citronen Fjord Zn deposit
in NE Greenland, held by Ironbark Zinc Ltd,
will no doubt add to the importance of Longyearbyen as the hub of the High Arctic.
Store Norske has extensive exploration
activities on Svalbard. The company drills
about 5,000m annually to map its future
resources and in searching for new Palaeogene coal seams in the Central Basin on the
main island, Spitsbergen.
Environmental regulations dictate that all
exploration activity must take place during
the winter season, on snow. No trace is to be
left on bare ground. Store Norske has also
conducted exploration for other commodities across the main island, Spitsbergen.
Extensive gold mineralisation showing
up to 55ppm Au has been found in several
locations along the western coast, within a
Tertiary fold belt. A mineralised
shear zone extending for
more than 8km was drilled by
the subsidiary Store Norske
Gull AS with 21 holes in
2010, indicating a continuous gold mineralising
system. Further exploration is needed, but has
been halted for various
environmental and political reasons.
The challenges of the Arctic night, mining
in permafrost, and drilling through moraine
and glaciers necessitate advanced skills,
which Store Norske has developed and perfected over decades. Store Norske cares for
the Arctic.
February 2015
02/02/2015 14:52
NORWAY
Above: the Hustadmarmor ground marble processing plant at Elnesvågen (left); the Hammerfall dolomite mine and quay in winter (right)
Omya Hustadmarmor AS in Norway
O
mya is a Swiss-owned leading global producer of industrial minerals,
mainly fillers and pigments derived
from carbonate rocks, as well as a worldwide
distributor of speciality chemicals. The major
markets are paper, polymers, building materials, and life sciences. The company operates
worldwide and has more than 180 plants in
over 50 countries.
Omya has three plants in Norway: Elnesvågen, southwest of Trondheim; Knarrevik, outside Bergen; and Hammerfall, at Røsvik, about
midway between Mo i Rana and Narvik.
The plant at Elnesvågen is the largest production unit within the company and is the
world’s largest producer of pigments for the
international paper industry.
From Norwegian marble
to international paper
Elnesvågen
The raw material for the plant at Elnesvågen
is marble from mines and quarries at Eide,
Fræna and Brønnøysund, mainly transported
to the facility by boat. The marble is ground,
washed and sieved at the production plant in
Elnesvågen.
The finished product, ie. slurry, looks
almost like milk, but has a far higher density.
The average size of each particle is 0.002mm!
The use of minerals in paper making is a practice that has long been known. Minerals are
used either as filler or as coating pigment.
Calcium carbonate is the most
important filler and coating pigment for the paper-making
process. The use of calcium
carbonate increases the
paper quality and reduces
the environmental impact
of the production. Paper
February 2015
02-20_Norway_2015.indd 17
made today contains, on average, 20% calcium carbonate; art papers (magazine paper
or glossy paper) may contain as much as
50%.
Liquid marble is over 99% pure. It is also
used in food-packaging material, such as
milk cartons.
Calcium carbonate fillers and coating pigments lend paper a high degree of whiteness, opacity, gloss and a good printability at
reduced costs.
Efficient and environmentally-friendly
transport by purpose-built tankers makes the
logistics competitive, despite the fact that
the company is located far from the big markets. Some 99% of the production goes into
export. A vessel carrying almost up to 20,000
tons of slurry frequently leaves the pier in
Elnesvågen on course to big paper manufactures in North and Central Europe.
Omya Hustadmarmor can also supply
products for other purposes. These are slurry
products for water treatment, fish-farming,
agriculture, and lime treatment of waterways. These are mainly transported by tanker
lorries.
Hammerfall
The plant and mine at Hammerfall, north of
the Arctic Circle, is the company’s northernmost plant. The facility celebrates its 80th
anniversary this year.
The raw material is a very pure
dolomite,
CaMg(CO3)₂,
formed more than
520 million years
ago. The dolomite
is
exploited
from mines
at around
230m below sea level. Most of the production is delivered to customers by ship, and
more than 100 vessels leave the plant each
year. About 60% is exported to customers in
Northern Europe.
The dolomite from Hammerfall is an important raw material in the manufacture of mineral wool, glass, fertilisers and refractories. It
is also used as decorative garden stones and
for the processing of high-quality fillers for
applications such as paints, coatings, adhesives, etc.
Knarrevik
The plant in Knarrevik produces dolomite
and mica, both of which are industrial minerals used worldwide. The raw materials are
dolomite from Hammerfall and mica
imported from India and China. The finished
products bear the names Microdol and Mica.
Microdol is a pure, white material, produced in various fractions. The main applications are paints, industrial coatings, fiberglass
and plastics. It is also used in adhesives, cosmetics, agricultural and environmental applications.
Mica is a pure, micronised muscovite mica
product with a lamellar particle structure.
The applications are paints, anti-corrosion
primers, polymers and cosmetics.
The Knarrevik dolomite and
mica processing plant
Mining Journal special publication – Norway
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02/02/2015 14:52
NORWAY
Norway’s metal production
Hydropower + technology + mineral resources => metal production
Finnfjord Smelter, in Troms county uses quartz from northern Norway in the world’s most energy-efficient process for production of ferrosilicon
Photo: Man Diesel and Turbo
N
“Norway’s expertise in ore-dressing and metallurgy is very
strong. Combined with increasingly ready access to hydroelectric power in the 20th century and port facilities
allowing ready import of mineral raw materials, this has
formed the basis for development of Norway as one of
Europe’s major producers of metals and alloys”
orway has a long history of metal
mining and processing, with relatively large-scale mining developing in the 17th century. Primary production
has experienced the natural cycles related to
exhaustion of resources in individual deposits, competition with richer, larger deposits in
other parts of the globe and price movements in general.
Norway’s expertise in ore-dressing and
metallurgy has, however, remained strong.
Combined with increasingly ready access to
hydro-electric power in the 20th century and
port facilities allowing ready import (as well
as export) of mineral raw materials, this has
formed the basis for development of Norway
as one of Europe’s major producers of metals
and alloys.
and is investigating a deposit with a quality
suitable for production of Si metal. Norway
was the most important producer in 2012 of
all but one of these alloys in the EU35 countries (EU member and applicant states and
EEA states). The exception was ferro-manganese, of which France is listed with production exceeding Norway’s by 1,000 t.
Ferro-alloys and silicon
Base metals
Norway’s total production of ferro-alloys in
2012 was 748,886t (British Geological Survey,
2014). Major producing companies are:
Elkem (Fe-Si, Si and others); Finnfjord AS (FeSi); FESIL Rana Metal (Fe-Si); and Eramet (FeMn and Fe-Si-Mn).
Elkem is a major producer of quartz of a
quality suitable for production of Fe-Si alloy
Aluminium
Norway, with a total output of 1.985Mt, produced 38.7% of primary aluminium production in the EU35 group in 2012 (fifth position
at a global level), almost entirely based on
import of alumina. The major producers were
Hydro Aluminium and Alcoa. Research aimed
at use of anorthite as feed for producing alu-
Ferro-manganese
Ferro-silicon-manganese
Ferro-silicon
Other ferro-alloys
Silicon metal
Aluminium
Nickel, refined
Copper, refined
Cobalt metal
Zinc metal
Production 2012 (t)
130,000
266,000
203,886
150,000
170,000
1,985,000
92,000
38,000
2,969
152,647
Data from: http://www.bgs.ac.uk/products/minerals/statistics.html – European Mineral Statistics 2008 – 2012
18
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02-20_Norway_2015.indd 18
Rank in EU35
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
10
3
7
minium has been conducted in Norway but
did not lead to commercial development.
Nickel and co-products
Norway was the world’s major supplier of
nickel until the discovery of laterite ores in
New Caledonia in the 1870s. One of the main
mines was at Flåt, 70km inland from Kristiansand on the south coast. The Flåt mine,
in operation from 1872-1946, was the reason
for establishing a nickel refinery at Kristiansand in 1910. Falconbridge bought the refinery in 1929 for processing of matte from
mines in Canada. Xstrata became the new
owner in 2006 when it absorbed Falconbridge and, after the merger with Glencore in
2013, the operating company became Glencore Nikkelverk. Production in 2013 was:
91,017t Ni, 37,461t Cu and 3,348t Co.
www.xstratanickel.no/NO/OmOss/Sider/Hovedtall.aspx
Zinc
The Odda zinc smelter, located on an arm
of Hardangerfjord in southwest Norway
was founded in 1924 and is now owned by
Boliden. The plant processes zinc concentrates from Boliden mines in Ireland and Sweden, with 20% of the feed from other
countries. Zinc metal production in 2013 was
143,000t.
www.boliden.com/Operations/Smelters/Odda
February 2015
02/02/2015 14:52
NORWAY
Tschudi: a facilitator in the Arctic
T
schudi Shipping Company AS, based
in Oslo, is the privately owned
Norwegian holding company for the
Tschudi Group, which dates back to 1883.
The Tschudi Group builds on its three
main commercial competences – shipping, logistics and offshore activity –
to create integrated transport
solutions by drawing on internal
resources. Particular focus is on
shipping and logistics aimed at
Norway, the Northern and Arctic
regions and East-West cargo trade
and on projects involving the High
North, Russia, the Baltic and CIS
countries.
Tschudi has significant assets and
activity in northern Norway, including
port and cargo-handling facilities, aggregates production, logistics, trans-shipment
and real estate.
As a port and terminal owner with its existing infrastructure in Kirkenes, including storage capacity of around 370,000m3, Tschudi
has the possibility to trans-ship bulk cargoes
imported with Handysize vessels and
exported with Panamax and small Capesize
vessels. Oil trans-shipment is now carried out
in Honningsvåg (near North Cape) by Tschudi
Arctic Transit. Large volumes with a high
frequency can be handled; in a recent contract, over 5Mt of crude oil from Russia were
trans-shipped.
Tschudi also exports aggregate (gneissic
wall rock) from the Sydvaranger iron-ore
mine. Deliveries have been for offshore projects, road construction, rail and road maintenance and for use in concrete and general
construction work in north
Norway and in Russia.
Tschudi’s interest in the High North started
in the early 1990s. However, it was not until
2006 – when Tschudi Shipping Company AS
acquired Sydvaranger AS, which had mined
iron ore in the region from 1910 to 1996 –
that the company made its main entry to
Kirkenes and the region.
Since then, Tschudi has been actively
involved in the development of the mine and
the port facility. Focus is also on the development of Kirkenes Industrial Area (KILA) as
Tschudi has the ambition for Kirkenes to
become an important port in Norway and
the Arctic.
The plan is to transform this 1 million m2
area into a
western
entry point for the Northern Sea Route (NSR),
offering trans-shipment, storage and an offshore base. A road construction plan is on
the regional and national agenda.
Tschudi’s presence in the High North
led to the company initiating and
being among the pioneers of
the first non-Russian commercial
shipment via the NSR to China in
2010. The NSR shortens the distance of traditional shipping
routes through the Suez Canal to
China by around 40%. This new
route can generate significant savings for cargo- and ship-owners
with reduced fuel consumption,
transportation time and emissions
and should be of particular interest for
the mining, metal and oil industries in
the northern regions.
Activity has increased annually since the
opening of the passage in 2010; in 2013, 71
vessels chose this route to or from the East.
Tschudi has an ownership interest in Arctic
Bulk AG and our team, in close co-operation
with Atomflot and the NSR Authorities, will
identify cargoes and facilitate the transit of
vessels through the NSR. The NSR is still, however, a ‘niche’ with limited opportunities due
to market conditions; varying ice conditions;
the short ice-free season; and the availability
of ice-class tonnage. Hence, the number of
shipments significantly dropped in 2014.
The Tschudi Group, with a significant presence in the High North, broad experience
and an open mind, will continue to be an
important solution provider and initiator for
business development in this region.
Tschudi Aggregates loading
in the harbour at Kirkenes.
Top: sketch map showing
the Northern Sea Route
from N Europe to Asia
Sources: Tschudi Shipping
February 2015
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The northern coast of Troms county in N Norway,
seen from Reinfjord Photo: H Schiellerup
Geological Survey: services for industry
T
he Geological Survey of Norway
(NGU) (www.ngu.no) is a government
agency, part of the Ministry of Trade,
Industry and Fisheries (NFD). NGU’s motto is
‘Geology for Society’ and the survey aims to
serve the needs for geological information in
other ministries, regional and local government, industry, and the general public.
NGU has 228 employees, about 54% of
whom are scientific personnel: 28 nationalities are represented. NGU has extensive cooperation with countries in the Nordic and
Arctic regions and in Europe as a whole.
Some 15% of NGU’s staff are involved in work
on hard-rock mineral resources (information
about deposits of metals, industrial minerals
and dimension stone is available on the
website: www.prospecting.no).
NGU manages the national drill-core centre, housed at the old Løkken mine, an hour’s
drive west of Trondheim. The centre houses
675,000m of core showing representative
sections through many of Norway’s most
important ore- and mineral deposits, and has
good facilities for inspection of these.
NGU’s website gives an overview of the
coverage of published maps of the bedrock
and surficial geology of Norway and of the
extensive sets of geophysical data. The geological data are also available on-line as web
map services (WMS) and can be downloaded
as shape-files.
Additional government funding
since 2010 has led to a major increase
in the coverage of high-resolution
geophysical data, geochemical data,
and targeted studies of ore provinces.
North Norway has been prioritised
but a similar programme is now
being implemented in South Norway.
High-resolution helicopter and fixed-wing
geophysical data cover 70% of North Norway,
displayed on www.prospecting.no.
NGU-Lab has a modern and well-maintained range of instruments for techniques
such as XRF, AAS, ICP-AES, HR-ICP-MS (with
laser ablation), noble gas mass spectrometry,
combustion and grain size distribution analysis, IC and XRD, as well as facilities for palaeomagnetic and petrophysical measurements,
mineral separation, thin-section production,
XRI (X-ray inspection of drill cores) and SEM
(scanning electron microscopy). The
laboratory is accredited according to
NS-EN ISO/IEC 17025.
NGU has international-level expertise in many fields relevant for the
mineral industry. NGU will be happy
to assist companies interested in
developing prospects in Norway.
Contact information:
Geological Survey of Norway
NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
Tel: +47-73 90 40 00 • Fax: +47-73 92 16 20
Websites: www.ngu.no / www.prospecting.no
E-mail: [email protected]
Nordic Mining ASA
Munkedamsv. 45 A, NO-0250 Oslo, Norway
Tel: +47 22 94 77 90 • Fax: +47 22 94 77 91
Website: www.nordicmining.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Directorate of Mining
PO Box 3021 Lade, NO-7441 Trondheim, Norway
Tel: +47 73 90 40 50 • Fax: +47 73 92 14 80
Website: www.dirmin.no
E-mail: [email protected]
Nussir ASA
P. O. Box 40, NO-9621 Kvalsund, Norway
Tel: +47 40 10 39 39
Website: www.nussir.no
E-mail: [email protected]
Norsk Bergindustri (Norwegian Mineral Industry)
Næringslivets Hus, Middelthunsgt 27
Postboks/PO Box 7072 Majorstuen, N-0306 Oslo, Norway
Tel: +47- 23 08 88 40 • Fax: +47- 23 08 82 42
Website: www.norskbergindustri.no
E-mail: [email protected]
Store Norske Spitsbergen
Grubekompani
PO Box 613, NO-9171 Longyearbyen, Norway
Tel: +47-79 02 52 00 • Fax: +47-79 02 18 41
Website: www.snsk.no
E-mail: [email protected]
Kodal Minerals
35-39 Maddox Street, London W1S 2PP, UK
Tel: +44 20 3463 2260
Website: www.kodalminerals.com
Omya Hustadmarmor AS
Sjøvegen 69, NO-6440 Elnesvågen, Norway
Tel: +47 71267700 • Fax: +47 71262904
Website: www.omya.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Regiongeolog Sven Dahlgren
Geological adviser
County Councils of Buskerud, Telemark and Vestfold
Tel: +47 333 44 000 • Mob: +47 90 69 27 52
E-mail: [email protected]
Tschudi Shipping
Tschudi Shipping Company AS
Tel: +47 67 11 98 94
Website: www.tschudigroup.com
Leonhard Nilsen & Sønner AS (LNS)
NO-8484 Risøyhamn, Norway
Tel: +47 76 11 57 00 • Fax: +47 76 11 57 01
Website: www.lns.no
E-mail: [email protected]
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