Norwegian Copper Mining Crisis (1630s)

Name: Norwegian Copper Mining Crisis (1630s)
Start: 1630
End: 1639

Type Event Region Norway Time 1630–1639

In the 1630s, Norwegian copper mining suffered from falling international prices due to Japanese exports, rising extraction costs, and Thirty Years' …

Timeline

1630–1635Amsterdam copper market · NetherlandsThe Dutch East India Company shipped large quantities of cheap Japanese refined copper to Europe via the Japan trade, continuously depressing copper prices at commodity trading centers like Amsterdam, directly undermining the competitiveness of Norwegian copper mines against the European market.
1632–1639Kopperberg mining district (Norway) · NorwayAs shallow veins were gradually exhausted, mines extending to greater depths required more labor and drainage equipment, sharply raising operating costs. The Thirty Years' War further disrupted European trade routes, hindering copper sales and transport; some mines fell into deficit, royal mining revenue plummeted, and German and Dutch commercial capital was brought in to sustain production.

Sources

The Mining Industry in Early Modern Norway — Gunnar Yttri (1998)