Langvatn Molybdenium Mines, Bykle, Agder, Norwayi

Regional Level Types
Langvatn Molybdenium Mines	Group of Mines
Bykle	Municipality
Agder	County
Norway	Country

Located near the borders of the counties; Telemark, Aust-Agder and Rogaland, and the mountain Dyrskardnuten.
According Monen (2016) there have been two companies active in the Langvatn molybdenium mine in the period 1898-1918:
- The Kobbernuten Interessenskap was the first to prospect at the Breiveheiane, at Kåpårnuten and near the Langvatn Lake in 1898.
- I/S Kobbernuten had acquiered the mining rights in this area, and signed a contract with german industrial magnate dr. Alexander Nack, leasing out the mining rights to him. Additionally he needed to have separate deals with the farmers to construct the mining buildings, access to water, the right to use the land for having horses and cows in the area around the mine.
The horses were necessary for transport from and to the mine, while the cows would supply the workers with milk, butter and meat. It turned out that Nack didn't fullfill all the requirements of the norwegian state. He tried to avoid these rules by making a deal with german company Gewerkschaft Bergmans Glück of Gotha regarding the leasing of the mining rights.
But when this company sent in an application to the Norwegian state, they found out that Nack's papers were not in order, and soon after it was found out that Nack was bankrupt.
The town council of Bykle decided in 1910 to allow the german company Gewerkschaft Bergmans Glück to lease the mining rights in the area where I/S Kobbernuten owned the mining rights.

Mining commenced 1910/1911.

In 1912 they had finished building the necessary equipment for processing the ore.
In 1913 they produced 1580 kg. of a concentrate containing 50% MoS2, 1700 kg with 40% MoS2 and about 10 ton with 23% MoS2. Additionally they produced 300 ton with 3-4% MoS2.
When the mine closed in 1913 the total production had been:
1580 kg with 50% MoS2
1700 kr. With 40% MoS2
10.030 kg with 23% MoS2

These concentrates had been transported to Hovden by horse, a long and dangerous trip.
In the spring of 1918 the Kobbernuten Interessentskap started mining the deposit again. Cynically enough the ore they produced was exported to germany for use in armed steel in tanks etc.

Exactly how much was produced in the last period is not known, but soon after the war the mine must have been closed down for good.
In 1960 the deposit was thorougly studied, but was not considered to be of economic interest.

There are two shafts and several open pits.

The ore contained 0,36% MoS2 and had a rhenium content of 182 ppm and 100 ppm in two separate molybdenite samples (Burvald 1983).

Coordinates © Kartverket - https://www.kartverket.no

Geochronology

Mineralization age: Mesoproterozoic : 1041 Ma to 1022 Ma

Important note: This table is based only on rock and mineral ages recorded on mindat.org for this locality and is not necessarily a complete representation of the geochronology, but does give an indication of possible mineralization events relevant to this locality. As more age information is added this table may expand in the future. A break in the table simply indicates a lack of data entered here, not necessarily a break in the geologic sequence. Grey background entries are from different, related, localities.

Geologic Time				Rocks, Minerals and Events
Precambrian
	Proterozoic
		Mesoproterozoic
			Stenian	ⓘ Molybdenite (youngest age) 1022 Ma ⓘ Molybdenite (oldest age) 1041 Ma

Other Databases

Link to Geological Survey of Norway:	5380

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References