Sweden's northernmost town of Kiruna will move its centre a few kilometres away to save it from sinking into the ground due to underground cracks created by iron ore mining, officials said on Tuesday.
In order to continue to operate the lucrative mine, in the next few decades, the town centre will need to be moved, including all major buildings, the railroad, the railroad station, the terminal, the newly-built highway, homes, water and sewage systems and electrical systems.
Greater Kiruna has 23,500 inhabitants.
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But here's the bit that I find funny/disturbing/heartless:
"The railway is the most important thing since it is closest to the mine. It is a prerequisite for the mine to be able to continue its work, since iron ore traffic makes up 90 percent of transport on the railway," Hannu said.
Read the rest of the article here.
It is the biggest iron ore mine in the world, which started as an open-pit mine but went underground in the 1960s. It is also the most modern mine. It seems they've known about the cracks for a while, as it was predicted in 2004 that within 20 years the city would disappear into the mine. It just seems to be a lot about industry and very little about planning.
Here's another bit, from mining-technology.com
LKAB has invested some $50 million to dewater part of Lake Luossajärvi in order to access 100Mt of ore beneath it. The KUJ2000 haulage level has been extended to the area, and mining began in early 2003. The former lake bed has been forested in order to prevent dust emissions from the dried bed silt.
- Dammit! There seems to be a lake in the way. What do we do?
- Well that's easy, mate. Get rid of the lake.
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