Several years had passed since I and my friends visited the village of Otanmäki near Kajaani. Although it is far from abandoned, it’s been in quite of a decline since the mine closed in the 1980’s. The location is remote and the houses are way too large for the area thus resulting in the cheapestContinue reading “Mining Village Revisited”
Tag Archives: mining village
And They Were Dancing
In the early 1950’s a mine was founded in a remote swamp area. As soon as it started operations, a small village was built around it. There were around 250 houses at the peak with some 1000 people living there. The company strived to keep their employees happy in the middle of nowhere. They boughtContinue reading “And They Were Dancing”
Mining Village Grocery Store
This already seems like a too familiar story, but let’s tell it all over again. In 1948 a copper mine was founded in a very small village of a very small municipality. In addition to a mine, the company built an enrichment plant, two very spectacular blocks of flats and other infrastructure in a location,Continue reading “Mining Village Grocery Store”
Mätäsvaara Mining Village
In the early 20th century, when the railroad between the towns of Lieksa and Nurmes was being built, a deposit of molybdenum was found. They started extracting the ore and ferrying it to Germany to make steel, but as there was no way to process the ore, the business was unsuccessful and ended in 1916.Continue reading “Mätäsvaara Mining Village”