“Here, the correct path was taken in reverse: First, expensive plants were built, then they started studying the volume of ore, which turned out not to correspond to expectations.”
Professor of geology, Thorolf Vogt, summed up the history of mining at Matmora in this way.
Went all out, with cable car, railway, quay and 129 employees
In 1905, the company “The Norwegian Iron Ore Company Limited” was established. The company had Dutch ownership but was run by Norwegians in Norway. The purpose of the company was to acquire and operate a mining company.
The company built a cable car, railway and quay at the Matmora plant. The ropeway transported the ore from the mines and down the mountain, where it was loaded onto trains and transported by rail all the way down to the quay in Vatnfjorden.
There were 129 people working at the site under the leadership of two engineers.
In spite of the major investment, the Dutch gave up the entire operation shortly after start-up. Profitability was too poor. By then they had extracted 270 tons of iron ore.
New owners with major upgrades
At the beginning of 1907, an Austrian company took over the entire mining and railroad facility. They moved the mining operations further up the mountain, to Rangeldalen. Large parts of the railway route were reused and two steam locomotives were purchased.
In the first period, the ore was transported by cable car down from the mines in Rangeldalen. In 1908, three braking tracks were built down to the reloading station at Jorden. The brake tracks were 900 meters long in total. Furthermore, the railway line from Jorden to Vatnfjorden was 4.4 kilometers long.
At Vatnfjorden, a 300 meter long quay with railway tracks was built. The quay area also had a local boat landing and a post office. Housing was built for all employees at the plant. The miners lived in barracks, while the clerks were given slightly nicer homes.
In 1908, up to 380 people worked at the plant.
The closure
The Austrians aimed to extract several million tons of iron ore, but the result was only 7414 tons.
The work was shut down in May 1909 and operations were completely discontinued in 1912.
Mountain hike to Matmora along the old mining facility
Mining in the area has left traces that are still visible. Today you can take a walk along the disused railway and in the brake tracks. On your way to the top of Matmora, you’ll also pass the mine openings.
16 kilometers north from Svolvær, turn left towards Laukvik. Follow this road for 12 kilometers until you have passed Sandsletta camping. Then you will quickly find a hiking trail on the right.
Have a good trip!
Sources
- Madmoderen Bergværks Aktieselskabs railway, Skinnelangs.no, (retrieved Jan. 2023)
- Elisabeth Johansen and John Roar Pettersen, Lofoten, en kulturminneguide, Orkana forlag, 2018
