Malmberget Iron Ore Mine

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LKAB's Malmberget (ore mountain) iron ore mine, located at Gällivare, 75km from Kiruna, contains some 20 orebodies spread over an underground area of about 5 by 2.5km. Seven are currently being exploited. Mining began in 1892, since when over 350Mt of ore have been won. LKAB employs around 1,000 people at Malmberget, of whom 900 work in mining, processing and administration.

In 2006, Malmberget produced around one third of LKAB's total production of 23.3Mt of iron-ore products. The company achieved sales totalling 23.3Mt, of which 15.9Mt were pellets and the remainder iron-ore concentrates.

Malmberget's ores are hosted in Precambrian volcanic rocks that have largely been metamorphosed to gneisses. Containing apatite-bearing iron ore, the entire deposit complex has been strongly folded and now consists of a number of ore sheets that may have originally been connected. Most orebodies lie within the 6.5km-long main ore zone.

Large-scale sub-level caving, developed in Malmberget, is the predominant mining method. As at Kiruna, electric-powered, remote-controlled drilling and loading equipment is used, allowing very high labour productivity. Wassara water-hydraulic in-hole hammers and Atlas Copco Simba 469W production jumbos are used, the ore being handled by 25t-capacity Bison electric-drive wheel loaders.

Broken ore is trammed to orepasses that run from the production sublevels to the haulage level, located since 1989 at 815m. Here, the ore is transported by 120t-capacity Sisu Mammut (mammoth) trucks to the underground crusher stations. Vehicle haulage is used in preference to a rail system to give better control over the blending of ore from each of the seven operating areas. After primary crushing underground, the ore is skip hoisted to surface for processing.

Because of the abrasive nature of the ore, the Mammut truck bodies are constructed from SSAB Oxelosund's special wear-resistant steel, Hardox 400. The Bison loader buckets are also made of Hardox 400, with Hardox 500 cutting edges.

All of the ore mined at Malmberget is crushed and screened and is then upgraded using magnetic separation technology. Concentrator output is then processed to give sinter fines, olivine pellets or concentrate for iron powder production.

In 2004, LKAB announced a $350m investment in a third pelletising plant for Malmberget. Designed and built by Outokumpu Technology, the new MK3 plant includes a BUV sinter unit, Metso Minerals' balling drums and filters, ABB power and control equipment, and Midroc electrical installations.


The attached concentrator includes Outukumpu mills, Metso separators and Roxon belt conveyors. Commissioned in 2006, MK3 has increased Malmberget's pellet capacity by 2.5Mt/y, with the potential to increase this by a further 1.5Mt/y in the future, depending on market conditions.

Output from the plant will be used to supply domestic markets, releasing pelletising capacity at Kiruna for exports. The SSAB steel plant in Lulea takes one-third of the mine's production, with other main customers being SSAB Oxelosund and various Finnish steel mills.

The completion of the KK4 pelletising plant at Kiruna in 2008 will result in Malmberget becoming LKAB's sole producer of iron-ore fines.

The current main haulage level, M1000, lies at a depth of 1,000m, with mining scheduled to reach this depth by 2010. A new haulage is currently being planned for the 1,265m level, and is due for commissioning at that time. In the mean time, the existing M1000 infrastructure is being extended out towards the Fabian orebody, where significant reserves have been identified at depth and production will begin in 2009.