Sweden transports the entire church through the city of Kiruna to expand mines Mining news

The Kiruna Church in Sweden begins on a two -day trip to a new house, which led to a route in the Arctic to save its wooden walls from the land landing and expand the largest underground iron ore mine in the world.

The workers lifted the 600-year-old church, who was 113 years old, and toured a specially built trailer-a 30-year-old project to transport thousands of people and buildings from the city of Kiruna in the Lapland area.

Last year, the LKA mine operator expanded the road for a trip, which will take the church drawn in red-one of the largest wood structures in Sweden, often the most beautiful-5 km (3 miles) on a winding road to the center of the new city of Kiruna.

The journey, which begins on Tuesday, will save the church but remove it from the site as it stood for more than a century.

“The Church is the spirit of Kiruna in some way, and in some way it is a safe place,” said Kiruna’s deputy, Lina Tejernberg. “For me, it is like a day of joy, but I think people feel sad as well because we have to leave this place.”

For many of the original Sami community in the region, which sponsored the reindeer there for thousands of years, the feelings are less confused. This step is a reminder of the broader changes caused by the expansion of mining.

“This region is the traditional Sami Land,” said Lars Marcus Kohamonin, head of society, who was absent from the local Sami. “This area was sponsoring the land and also a land that was born from the reindeer.”

He said that if another nearby mine continues after this step, then this would cut the path from the pastures of summer and winter reundal, which makes grazing “impossible” in the future.

He added: “Fifty years ago, Jaddi said that the mine would eat our way of life, and our reindeer grazing us. He was right.”

The church is just a small part of the transport project.

What next?

LKAB says about 3000 homes and about 6000 people need to move. A number of public and commercial buildings are demolished, while some, such as the church, are transported in one piece.

Other buildings are dismantled and rebuilt around the new city center. Hundreds of new homes, shops and the new city hall were also built.

This LKAB shift, which produces 80 percent of the iron ore in Europe, should continue to extend Kiruna’s operation for upcoming contracts.

The state -owned company has raised about two billion tons of crude since the nineties of the nineteenth century, especially from the Kiruna mine. Metal resources are estimated at about six billion tons in Kiruna, Svappavaara and nearby Malmberget.

LKAB is now plans for the new mine next to the current Kiruna website.

Rare ground elements

In addition to iron ore, the proposed GEIGER mine contains large deposits of rare Earth elements – a group of 17 important minerals for laser products to iPhone and green technology to meet the climate targets in Europe.

Europe – and a lot of the rest of the world now depends on China to provide and treat rare land.

In March of this year, the European Union was appointed to all Geijer as a strategic project, which can help accelerate the introduction of the new mine.

About 5 kilometers (3 miles) on the road, the new city center will be formed in Kiruna.

“The church is … a statement or symbol of this city’s transformation,” said the mayor, Tafiniko. “We are now in the middle of the road there. We have 10 years remaining to move the rest of the city.”