Highlights

History

Mining activity in the Lohja area began as early as 1542, when King Gustav Vasa of Sweden granted district judge Erik Fleming permission to mine iron ore in Ojamo, Lohja. Ojamo is considered the oldest iron mine in Finland.

Limestone extraction was also carried out in various parts of Lohja. In 1897, quarrying began at the Tytyri open pit near the shore of Lake Lohjanjärvi. At that time, sea captain Karl Forsström from Särkisalo founded a lime kiln, which later grew into one of Finland’s largest companies, Oy Lohja Ab.

Operations began shifting underground in 1947, when rock extracted from the open pit was dropped down to a crusher built at the -110 meter level. The transition to fully underground mining took place in 1956.

One of the tunnel complexes at the -110 meter level was opened to the public as a mining museum in 1988, thanks to the initiative and dedicated efforts of the mine’s former director, M.Sc. (Eng.) Carl Fredrik Bäckström. Since then, visitors have been able to experience the underground world in a unique and authentic environment. Originally, the museum operated only around the drillers’ workshop, but it has since expanded to cover a tunnel network nearly one kilometer in length.

In addition to mining and tourism, the elevator company KONE Corporation discovered in 1998 that an unused vertical shaft in the mine provided an ideal space for testing high-rise elevators. As a result, advanced, internationally leading elevator technology and expertise were brought into a shaft over 300 meters deep in Tytyri, and the fastest elevator in Finland was installed for the Experience Mine.

Tytyri Experience Mine is a unique, multi-functional destination that combines mining industry, KONE’s advanced technological development, and tourism. Today, limestone extraction takes place at a depth of over 350 meters, and the total length of the mine network exceeds 60 kilometers.

Currently, the Tytyri mine is owned by Nordkalk Oy Ab, a leading producer of limestone-based products in the Baltic Sea region. Crushed, ground, screened, and burned limestone, as well as quicklime and slaked lime, are marketed in Finland, Sweden, the Baltic countries, and Poland under the Nordkalk brand. Through its subsidiary Suomen Karbonaatti Oy, the company also produces paper pigments.