Sveagruva

Coal production continued until 1925, when the mine was closed. A new company started up in 1928. In 1934, Store Norske Spitsbergen purchased Kulkompani Sveagruva for NOK 1 million. Surveying and mine development were carried out in the years leading up to WWII. In August 1944, the facilities in Svea were shelled by a German submarine and caught fire. Reconstruction began soon after the war, but coal prices were low, so operations ceased again as early as 1949. Activities in Svea did not resume until 1970, when surveying and ultimately production began in Svea Øst. Another shutdown followed 17 years later, and until 1997 only a skeleton crew of 12–15 watchmen lived in Svea.

But a new mine was opened. Svea Nord is part of the Central Field, where coal is extremely plentiful. This field was opened for permanent mining by the Norwegian Parliament in December 2001. Store Norske ran it at a profit until 2005, when a fire in the mine led to an eight-month shutdown. In 2011, preparations began to open a new mine under Lunckefjell, a few kilometres northeast of Svea. However, the mine never realised normal operations and was shut down in 2015 because of low coal prices. A while later, a decision was made to shut down Svea Nord. A formidable clean-up project was initiated: every trace of mining was to be removed (with the exception of a few buildings and cultural heritage relics dating back to before 1946) and the area would be returned to its natural state.

The settlement at Svea changed character throughout the various periods of operation, from the early days’ construction camps, to a family town with a school and an infirmary after WWII, to a workplace community where the employees commuted either to Longyearbyen or to mainland Norway. Svea had a small airport with daily departures to Longyearbyen.