“Like Christmas Eve and a birthday all at once”
Elias Örnberg, 34, works as a case officer at the Mineral Information Office in Malå—or the drill core archive, as it is commonly known. The archive is owned by the Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU), which is the agency responsible for matters related to rocks, soil, and groundwater in Sweden. Elias enjoys both his work and his colleagues.
The drill core archive contains design data from both the government and private companies and comprises over four million meters of drill cores.
“My colleagues in this industry are passionate about their work, and that’s something that really inspires me. It’s a really fun job,” says Elias, who has now been working as a case worker for a couple of years. After completing the IT program at the high school in Lycksele, he returned to his hometown and worked a variety of jobs before entering his current field, where he is very happy.
Currently, 13 people work at the Malå office, including 9 permanent employees and 4 project staff. Their duties vary, but Elias is primarily responsible for the drill core archive, which is housed in three rooms covering an area of nearly 10,000 square meters above ground. A small portion of Elias’s work time is spent on the paper archive, which has largely been digitized. Right now, there is heavy demand for the drill core archive, which has been virtually fully booked since the start of the year.
Like Christmas Eve and a birthday
“At this rate, we’ll have as many visitors in half a year as we did all of last year,” says Elias, explaining that it’s mainly researchers and prospectors who visit the archive.
Explorers use the mapping room to examine their own drill cores, but they can also review previous data to determine which minerals are present in the ground. A geologist can go through the data meter by meter to map the rock types and minerals contained in a drill hole and make detailed predictions about what the exploration area looks like.
“When they find something, it’s like Christmas Eve and a birthday all at once. So it’s a lot of fun, and my colleague Emil and I are very busy,” says Elias, adding that one of the highlights of the job is also exhibiting at trade shows a few times a year, both domestically and abroad.
A Growing Workplace
At the national level, 300 employees work at the agency—including in areas such as IT, HR, and procurement—and they regularly hire new staff. In Malå, they welcome employees from various fields to come and work there. Elias explains that the Malå office is open during the day on weekdays and regularly gets visits from people who are curious about what they do.
Living and working in Malå has several advantages. The main one, according to Elias, is not having to commute. In larger cities, a lot of valuable time is spent getting to and from work.
“It only takes me five or six minutes to walk to work. Plus, the fact that I have such great coworkers and work in a small office where everyone helps each other out is a huge advantage. It makes the job so much easier.”
Everyone knows everyone
Another important advantage of Malå is that everyone knows everyone, says Elias, who has a rich social life and many relatives in the town where he grew up. In his free time, he likes to play video games with friends, strum the guitar, or play table tennis. Malå has a vibrant community life with plenty of opportunities for various sports, such as downhill skiing at Tjamstabacken in the winter, volleyball, or mat curling. Elias likes to try out different things.
“I also work part-time as a firefighter—it’s a lot of fun, and we’re a great group of people. You get to take training courses and have the chance to get a Class C driver’s license. There are also plenty of job opportunities here, since we’re desperately short on staff,” Elias concludes.
Footnote: If you are interested in working at the Mineral Archive in Malå, feel free to contact us, come visit, or visit our website, where the agency posts current job openings.
Text: Monica Wiksten Gideonsson
Photo: www.ricke.se
