Teenage school children in Kiruna have been working on a project, “The role and function of the mine in society”. They metaphorically depict the mine as the thread that holds the community together, as a necklace. A flavor of the 125 years of common history of the mine and the town. But what does it tell us about the relation between the town (and community) of Kiruna and the country of Sweden? Can the metaphor be stretched that far? Are they the thread that holds the pearl of Sweden together? Our feeling, so far, is that it is possible to stretch the metaphor this far – at least from the point of view of the citizens of Kiruna: They know their historic, contemporary and future importance. They are proud (without being bold), yet mining is not viewed as a pearl necklace without cracks. There are, as we previously have written, two sides of the story, or more.
Source: LKAB Framtid, nr 1 2015, page 3.