Kiruna town is located at a distance of 145 km north of the Arctic Circle. The economy of the town depends on the iron ore mine, which is considered to be the largest in the world. The depth of the mine is 1270 m and its territory comprises over 450 kilometers of underground tunnels. The enterprise was constructed on a base of a quarry which was opened in 1736 and an iron ore deposit Kirunavara which has been developing since 1898. For the first time on these territories an iron ore was extracted more than six thousand years ago. The mine was opened in 1952. The enterprise includes a mine, crushing and sorting complex, ore-dressing plant and pelletizing etc.
Apatite-magnetite deposit Kirunavara is a part of the iron ore province of Norrbotten.
Proven ore deposits (to a depth of 1000 m) are about 2 billion tons at Fe content of 60-65%.
Operations at the face are going on, but despite this, the mine is open for tourists who are transported to a depth of 540 or 700 m by means of a lift or by bus, they are demonstrated the way of rock extraction. The friendly guides tell the history of one of the largest iron ore extraction companies.It should be noted that the enterprise is analogous of Kryvyi Rih mines according to its specialization. In the Swedish city as well as in the Kryvyi Rih region there are some quarries and dumps, moreover there is a problem of appearing the mining collapsing zones. Despite the fact that the "Kiruna" iron ore mine provides regular excursions for tourists and has modern infrastructure for doing that, the geographical location and climatic conditions of Kryvyi Rih region are much more favorable for tourists.