Sydvaranger

Infobox Company
company_name = Sydvaranger AS
company_
company_type = Subsidiary
foundation = 1906
location = flagicon|Norway Kirkenes, Norway
key_people =
area_served = Norway
industry = Mining
products = Iron ore
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees = 6 (2007)
parent = Tschudi Group
subsid =
homepage = [http://www.sydvaranger.no www.sydvaranger.no]
footnotes =

Sydvaranger was the company that operated the Bjørnevatn Mine in Kirkenes, Norway between the start in 1906 until 1996. Since then the company has mainly been concerned with cleaning up the industrial areas and business development. The company also owned Bidjovagge Mine og Rana Mine at Storforshei in Nordland.

History

The iron ore mines at Bjørnevatn started in 1906 and in 1910 the 12 kilometer long railway Kirkenes-Bjørnevatnbanen, the worlds northernmost railway, was built to allow the transport of the ore to the port at Kirkenes where it was crushed to pellets before being shipped to Britain and Germany. The mining blossomed through the 1950s, 60s and 70s, but in the 80s ore became too expensive. In 1985 the government decided to close down the mine, and the last ore was mined in 1996.

At the time of the closure of the mine, the Government of Norway owned 87% of the company. In December 1999 it sold its ownership to Varanger Kraft (who owed 63%) and the Municipality of Sør-Varanger (37%). In 1999 Arctic Bulk Minerals bought the production equipment and wanted to attempt new mining activities in the mine, but the attempt failed and the assets were transferred back to Sydvaranger to pay for the debt. In 2006 the company was sold to Tschudi Group. This group is seriously planning to start mining again in 2009. They have external investors who have invested 600 MNOK for the costs of this.

After ten years and NOK 50 million used for cleaning up, Sydvaranger has quays and industrial areas that can be used for new business. The company is cooperating with the company Kirkenes World Port Group to attempt to create a railport at Kirkenes that will be connected to the Russian Railways with a proposed extension of the Murmansk-Nikel Railway.