Boliden AB

1920s: founding

In 1918, a mining company called Centralgruppens Emissionsbolag, which was majority-owned by Skaninaviska Banken, began prospecting in the area surrounding Skellefteå. In 1924, a gold ore deposit was discovered near the village of Bjurliden, around 30 km from Skellefteå. It was found to contain 18 grams of gold per ton, making it Europe's richest ore at the time. It also contained significant amounts of silver and copper.

In the mid-1920s, the company went bankrupt. Its main shareholder Skaninaviska Banken liquidated and restructured it into two separate companies, retaining majority ownership of both: Skellefteå gruv AB and Västerbottens gruv AB. Oscar Falkman, a venture capitalist who had led Emissionsbolag's prospecting operations since 1918, became the leader of both companies. Financier Ivar Kreuger bought majority shares in both companies in 1929 for 58 million SEK (2 billion SEK today, or 183 million EUR) and two years later consolidated them into one, which became the modern entity Boliden. Falkman became its first CEO, ultimately serving for 12 years.

1930s–1940s: restructuring and expansion

In 1932, Kreuger, who was heavily indebted and facing bankruptcy, died of suicide. The Swedish government passed a law limiting foreign ownership of Swedish companies active in resource extraction. The law, dubbed Lex Boliden by the press, remained on the books until the 1990s. Ultimately, Kreuger's stake in Boliden passed back to Skandinaviska Banken, which had provided most of the money for his purchase of the mine. The bank remained the owners of the company until 1952, when the company shares were publicly listed.

Over the next few years, the town of Boliden grew quickly around the mine.