Copper mine Falun, Falun, Dalarnas Län, Sweden
N 60° 36.008 E 015° 36.975
33V E 533748 N 6718407
The copper mine in Falun has been worked on since the 10th century.
Waymark Code: WM142JQ
Location: Dalarna, Sweden
Date Posted: 04/02/2021
Views: 9
The copper mine in Falun has been worked on since the 10th century until its closure in 1992. It was first mentioned in the year 1080, but archeological studies suggest that first operations for mining were started between the years 850 and 1000 on a small scale by and for farmers by smelting the collected ore and forging household equipment.
Between 1275 and 1290 merchants from Lübeck took over from the former farmers and expanded the mining operations. The local development of mining technique was exported from here through Europe. In the midst of the 14th century the mine became a national resource, the generated revenue of the mine was a large part of the swedish state household. The copper production in the 17th century of this mine was used to satisfy two thirds of the european needs, the money helped funding the swedish wars of the time.
All the miners and other workers in the mine were free men since the organization of the mine was changed in 1347. All workers were given shares for their work, which were used for an income when the worker was no longer able to work in the mine or smelter.
The copper was mined until the 19th century with a method called fire-setting: With this the stone was heated during the night with a fire. When the day shift started the fires were extinguished and the stone was cooled very abruptly (i.e. with cold water), which caused cracks and fissures for the mining tools. Using this method the individual miner was able to break a volume of one to two cubic meters of stone in a month. The broken stone was then collected and the copper it contained was extracted by further smelting.
In 1687 on midsummars eve a greater part of the mine and the supporting foundations collapsed - luckily nobody was harmed, for midsummer was like christmas a day free of work in Sweden.
At the midst of the 18th century the significance of swedish copper diminished. The mining company concentrated on finding other uses for their products, which led to the well known falu red paint. Also a small gold vein containing around 5 tons of gold was found in 1881.
The mining in Falun became more and more expensive in the 20th century and after a millenium operations ceased in December 1992. Since the year 2001 the site with its mine is part of the UNESCO World Heritage.
Sources:
- Falun Mine (English Wikipedia)
- Website of the mine