The disused Løkken mine is situated in central Norway,
approximately 50 km south-west of Trondheim (Fig. 1). The Løkken deposit, originally comprising
some 30 million tonnes of ore with pyrite, chalcopyrite
and sphalerite as the main ore minerals, is the largest
massive sulphide deposit ever found in Norway. Mining
at Løkken started in 1654, when the orebody was
exploited for its copper content. Later both pyrite and
zinc became valuable products. From 1974 copper and
zinc concentrates were produced by selective flotation.
At the end of the 1970s the ore reserves in the eastern
part of the mine, known as the Wallenberg mine, were
more or less exhausted. Production continued in the
western part of the mine; the Astrup mine, until 1987
when the mining operations finally came to an end.