Kiruna quake: "Will have long-term consequences"

Nine days have passed since the big quake in the Kiruna mine and the area where the incident occurred is still blocked off, which means that the damage situation is not yet fully mapped.

However, LKAB states on its website that "the damage is extensive".

In addition to material damage, LKAB has to deal with the risks that a similar quake can occur again and that it can then end up worse.

- Thankfully no person was affected by the incident. We can note that this is a serious event that will have consequences for a long time to come. We will need to think both once and twice about how we handle the rising tension in the rock while minimizing the risk of injury to our employees, says Nils Stenberg.

For a week now, production in what is called the sea ore is up and running and there is now one third of normal capacity. Previously, a maintenance shutdown was planned in two of the pellet mills, which will be timely.

Now it is important for LKAB to make sure that the steel mills they have as customers will not be without iron ore.

- We have close contact with our customers, who have expressed, above all, a relief that LKAB's employees are unharmed. Of course, there is also some concern about how future deliveries may be affected. I feel that there is an understanding of the situation, and a conviction that we do everything we can to work safely and continue to produce, ”says Markus Petäjäniemi, director of marketing and technology at LKAB.