Business and industry in Norway - Mining and quarrying

Mining and quarrying is a generic term for all quarrying and extraction of minerals from rock, sand and gravel pits. Mining and quarrying products are used as raw materials in other industries, such as in the mineral-processing and construction industries. Industrial minerals are, for example, used as filler in everything from makeup and ice-cream to paint, glass, paper, environmental products and building materials.

The mineral industry is a typical coastal and regional industry, with Nordland as the Norwegian county that employs the highest number of people in the mining and quarrying industry. The number of people employed in this sector has decreased over the past few years, but the export value has increased considerably.

The Norwegian mining and quarrying industry is now undergoing a considerable growth and restructuring process, with a strong increase in the production of industrial minerals, a moderate growth in the production of natural stone, stone chips, sand and gravel, and a sharp reduction in the extraction of ore.

Norway produces olivine, an industrial mineral, from one of the world’s largest olivine mines, and is one of the world’s three largest producers of nepheline syenite, another industrial mineral. The world’s largest individual producer of limestone filler for the paper industry is also located in Norway, and the country has several sought-after types of natural stone.

The gross product is the value creation that takes place in a sector. Here, the gross product is calculated as a percentage of the market-oriented activities, which are defined as the activities with sales revenues that normally exceed their production costs. General government, housing services and charitable organisations have not been included. Market-oriented activities were worth a total of NOK 717 200 million in 1998, while, in comparison, Norway’s total GDP came to NOK 1 107 082 million. Back >