The history of the Kleva mine started in 1691 when a poor sexton from Skede took a walk on the mountain Kleva and suddenly saw something glittering in a stone that seemed to be gold. The stone was analysed but the ore’s gold content was too low. But they found copper in the lump of ore and regarded it worth starting mining operations. They started digging down from top of the mountain (this is the shaft that leads to the Big Pit). The owners of the mine changed and there were different opinions about the benefit of mining operations in Kleva because the copper was of bad quality. The mine shut down and lay dormant several times and on these occasions  water filled the mine completely. That meant that the mine had to be emptied of the water before the works could be continued. In the year 1838 a new analysis of an ore sample yielded that the content of nickel was higher than that of copper and it was recommended to win nickel rather than copper. The so called nickel-period of the Kleva mine started in 1845. It was in the years 1876/77 that the largest amounts of ore were mined. At the same time large deposits of nickel were discovered in New Caledonia and that meant that the prices fell down dramatically. Therefore the production shut down but was continued irregularly till1920 when the mine was closed finally. During World War II they only melted ore in order to win nickel for the production of ammunition.

In 1991 opened the commune of Vetlanda the mine for tourism after extensive safety measures. It was tried to obtain the work environment as authentic as possible. Since 1995 the tourism enterprise is driven privately. Up to 2008 it was operated by family Berggren which constructed a charming surrounding area with picnic and barbecue places close to the nature. In 2009 a German couple took over and is now driving the Kleva mine as a tourist attraction. Thousands of guests from Sweden and a lot of other countries visit the place and  enjoy the mine walk and the other activities as well as the beautiful nature and the picnic facilities between May and August every year.

By the way it is also a habitat for a lot of bats which sleep inside the mine during the wintertime. That’s why the area is a nature reserve and the mine remains closed between October and April.
The Kleva mine is situated about 10 km from Vetlanda, right in the forest of the Kleva mountain and is surrounded by the beautiful landscape of Småland with its hills, forests, junipers, lakes and the typical swedish wooden houses. Near the mine there is a lake with bathing facilities. The famous small town Vimmerby, where the famous writer Astrid Lindgren spent her childhood, is about an hour away by car. There is a museum next to her birthplace and there is the tourist attraction “Astrid Lindgrens World” which is an extremely popular adventure park and an event for the whole family like the “Kleva Gruva”.