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757

(1904) Author: Gustav Sundbärg
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Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Second part - IX. Mining Industry and Metal Production - 3. Other Minerals and Metals. By the late Lector C. G. Särnström

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other minerals and metals.

757

of iron and steel, and the greatest exporter of forest products. The company
now owns no less than 300,000 hectares of forest (750,000 acres or about half
the area of all forest in England), and has erected the largest saw-mill in the world
at Skutskär, where the company also has an important wood-pulp manufactory. At
Kvarnsveden it has recently erected a combined pulp-manufactory and paper-mill
at a cost of 3 million kronor. The company’s iron works at Domnarfvet are
touched upon in many places in this work; they are incomparably the greatest
of their kind in Northern Europe. The total amount of the company’s assets is
estimated at more than 40 million kronor.

The name of this corporation was originally Kopparbergslagen. The shares
were called »fourth parts», and, in 1615, were fixed at a number of 1,200; they
were declared as real estate by special law, so that acquest of such share had
to be registered as real estate. In 1890, a reconstruction took place resulting
in the corporation emerging into a joint-stock company formed upon modern
lines, and at this change every »fourth-part» was exchanged against eight shares
of one thousand kronor each, so that the joint capital amounts to 9-6 million
kronor. The Board has its seat in Stockholm, but the acting manager resides in
Falun, where the head offices for the management of the works are still situated.
The shares are held solely by Swedish subjects and corporations, and, to a smaller
part, by the State. — Up to 1896 inclusive, the company had from the
commencement of its activity broken 35 million tons of copper ore and röck, produced
500,000 tons of copper (to a value, including byproducts, of over one thousand
million kronor); further, 16,000 kilograms of silver, and 1,200 kilograms of gold,
besides a great number of other mining products. In its iron production it has
utilized 1,600,000 tons of ore and produced 800,000 tons of pig iron, 544,000
tons of bar iron, 445,000 tons of Bessemer and Martin ingots. Its timber trade
has embraced 221/a million logs of sawn timber, which made 1 million standards
of sawn timber; 55 million loads of charcoal have been consumed. Most of these
quantities have very considerably increased since 1896. For the years 1897/1902
the dividends paid have amounted to 10, 12, 14, 14, 12, and 14 % respectively,
besides which the compay has erected several new establishments out of the profits
instead of borrowing the funds necessary.

In our days, the copper production is not able to fill home demands,
which is shown by the fact that, in 1902, the import of raw copper and
copper waste amounted to 5,803 tons, while the export was only 1,447
tons, and the import of plates, etc., amounted to 1,087 tons, while the
export did not go higher than 70 tons. The imported copper as well
as that produced in the country, is used partly by mechanic shops,
and partly for the making of brass at Skultuna, Torpshammar, and
Gusum. Besides this, some is worked into plates, wire, and pipes at
Skultuna and Granefors, and, finally, some is used by copper-smiths for
making cooking-vessels, etc.

Zinc. Sweden possesses quite considerable quantities of zinc ore;
this consists exclusively of zinc-blende or sulphide of zinc. Of all
the zinc ore mined in Europe in 1896/1900 (1,118,838 tons per annum),
Sweden has contributed 57,701 tons, or 5-i6 %. In 1898 and 1899 our
share was even 5*5 2 %. The total production of Sweden amounted in
1902 to 48,783 tons; see further Table 95, on page 682. Metallic zinc
or any preparation thereof is not manufactured in Sweden, all the ore

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