Area mined for apatite. The apatite occurs in apatite-enstatite-phlogopite veins of various size, in a hornblende-scapolite-rock.
The mining area originally consisted of 2 parts: The Vestgruven Field which was started by the Compagnie Francaise des mines de Bamble in 1872 and the Dahlls field which was started in 1873 by the firm Johan Dahll in Kragerø. In 1901 the two areas was united as one under A/S Bamble Apatittgruver until 1910 when a consortium lead by Håkon Mathiesen took over the mines. In 1915 Bamble Apatitt A/S was formed as a new company, but it went broke already in 1920. Håkon Mathiesen then again took the resonsibility of the mines. The work in the mines terminated in 1926.
During the 2 World War, the mines was worked from 1941-1945 under the leadership of Adam Petterson. The mines are now closed and most of the dumps are overgrown by forest. Some of the dumps has been used as masses in construction and reparations of roads in the district.
Refs.:
- Brøgger, W.C. & Bäckström, H. (1888): Über den Dahlit. Ein neues mineral von Ödegården, Bamle, Norwegen. Meddelanden fråan Stockholms Högskola No 77: 1-6
- Morton, R. D. (1961): Contributions to the mineralogy of Norway. No.9. On the occurrence of two rare phospates in the Ødegården Apatite mines, Bamble, South Norway. Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift 41: 233-246
- Palache, C., Berman, H., & Frondel, C. (1951), The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana, Yale University 1837-1892, Volume II: 847.
