Løkken Verk

The name Løkken comes from a farm that stood on the site when copper was discovered there in 1652. In everyday speech the place is usually called Løkken, but the official name is Løkken Verk.

Today, Orkla Industrimuseum preserves the history of the mining works and is located along the pilgrim trail in the center of Løkken Verk.

The ore deposit at Løkken Verk originally amounted to about 30 million tonnes and was the largest deposit of copper-bearing pyrite ever found in Norway. Mining operations lasted for 333 years, from 1654 to 1987. Until 1844, copper was extracted, with roasting and smelting of copper ore (see Svorkmo smeltehytte). In 1851, operations were reorganized to extract pyrite, which was exported as a raw material for sulfuric acid production.

Production of pyrite stopped in 1853 and was not resumed until 1891. In the period 1931–1962, elemental sulfur and copper matte were produced from copper-bearing pyrite using the so-called Orkla Process. This activity took place at the smelter at Thamshavn, and the pyrite was transported by the Thamshavnbanen.

The Thamshavn Line was opened in 1908 and is the oldest electrified railway line in Norway. It runs from Løkken Verk to Thamshavn, just outside Orkanger. The railway was built to transport pyrite from Løkken Verk to the shipping port at Thamshavn. However, it also carried freight and passengers in coordination with the steamship DS Orkla, which operated on the Trondheimsfjorden to Trondheim.

Since 1983, the line has operated as a heritage railway, first on the stretch between Løkken Verk and Svorkmo, and from 2002 extended to Bårdshaug in Orkanger. The rolling stock is the same as that used during the railway’s years of operation. The line was protected in 2013.

From 1904, mining operations were conducted under the name Orkla Grube-Aktiebolag, which later developed into the major industrial group Orkla. To this day, Orkla often sends newly hired employees on study trips to Løkken to learn about the foundations of the company’s history.