1920s
It’s hard to say when Boliden’s history begins. Today we know that Garpenberg's history dates back to 375 BC when mining began in the area, while Bergsöe’s history extends to 1902. As for the Boliden Group, that story starts in 1924, when gold fever gripped northern Sweden.
December 1924
It’s a cold December day. At Fågelmyran the sound drilling stops, and instead a cry of joy can be heard. The ore body discovered in that moment would soon become the Boliden mine, and eventually Europe’s largest and richest gold mine.
“What on earth... Good heavens, it’s pure gold!”
Margareta Lundberg.
May 1925
Centralgruppens Emissionsbolag, which at the time owned the ore body in Boliden, is taken over by the bank that originally financed the business. The bank eventually forms Västerbottens Gruvaktiebolag (the Västerbotten Mining Company) and Skellefteå Gruvaktiebolag (the Skellefteå Mining Company).
Around this time, businessman Ivar Kreuger, better known as Sweden’s “Match King”, starts buying shares in the companies. By the late 1920s, he owns 90 percent of the shares. What follows is a few years of turmoil as he makes his mark on the company. Read more in the brochure From past to present.
1926 Boliden – ore transport from the Boliden mine to Klintfors railway station. Incl. trailer the vehicle carried 2 tonnes. Forslunds Åkeri had the contract.
1927 Boliden – the spalling building’s sorting conveyor. Alongside Albert Brännström, Torsten Syenlund, Göte Mannberg, Eivert Syenlund and Gustav Nyström.
1929
The Norwegian company Det Norske Zinkkompani opens a smelting plant in the community of Odda, in Norway. This location is selected in part because there is good access to electricity. Once production starts, the community expands from 800 to 10,000 inhabitants.
