Landsverk 1 Feldspar Quarry (Jokeli), Landsverk, Evje og Hornnes, Agder, Norwayi

Regional Level Types
Landsverk 1 Feldspar Quarry (Jokeli)	Quarry (Tourist Attraction)
Landsverk	Farm
Evje og Hornnes	Municipality
Agder	County
Norway	Country

One of the oldest feldspar quarries in Evje.
Bjørlykke locality nr 108.

The mine and mine dumps are open to public collecting for a fee (see general information on Landsverk).
The pegmatite dyke is about 20-30 m wide and about 120 m long, strike E-W and dip nearly vertical.

Bernd Gautestad, son of Theodor Gautestad, who once exploited the Landsverk 1 quarry, is of a different opinion. Observations from the old days seem to indicate that the pegmatite is not a vertical dyke, but rather dips at a 45-degree angle into western direction. (Personal communication to Ronald Werner, August 2017)

Note to the mineralist:

Gadolinite and thortveitite specimens were traditionally labelled with only "Landsverk" as locality name. It is almost 100% certain that in all cases thortveitite originated from Landsverk 3, and gadolinite from either Landsverk 3 or one of the neighbouring quarries.

Davidite-(Ce) was also only labelled as coming from "Landsverk", and might actually come from Landsverk 3 or any of the other quarries in the area.

Pyrrhotite has been found in other pegmatites in the Evje-Iveland pegmatite field, but it has been said that it is more likely in the case of Landsverk 1, that it was ore from the Flåt nickel mine, that fell off the cableway while being transported to the smelter in Evje.

Laumontite was reported in old literature (Schei 1905), but a modern confirmation is lacking. In the collection of the Evje og Hornnes geomuseum Fennefoss there is no laumontite.

What actually has been found, also in recent times, are epimorphs/pseudomorphs of a mix of albite/microcline/chlorite after a mineral that by crystal shape actually might have been laumontite.

The perimorphs/pseudomorphs form long prismatic "tubes", sometimes empty, sometimes filled with the above-mentioned mix. The end termination is a single plane at an angle that corresponds pretty well with laumontite.

A booklet (36 pp.) about the Evje Mineralsti, describing all the Landsverk quarries is available in 4 languages (UK, D, N, NL) by contacting Mr Ronald Werner at ronald.werner("at")setesdalsmuseet.no.

NEWS NOVEMBER 2019

The proprietor of the Evje Mineralsti died in december 2018. Due to unforeseen problems with loose rock, the mineralsti couldn't be opened during the 2019 season.

The good news is that the Evje og Hornnes municipality has come to an agreement with the Aust-Agder museum and archive/Setesdalsmuseet, and the mineralsti will be open again in 2020.

The exact details will come later, but it is to be expected that there will be changes in how the mineralsti will be operated.


CORONA NEWS MARCH 2020

Even though there is a strong likelyhood that the 2020 summer season will be cancelled, the preparations for opening the Evje Mineralsti are still going through. Some maintenance work around Landsverk 1 and visitor center has been done. We are working on a website. Some safety issues are being addressed.

UPDATE JUNE 30, 2020

The Evje Mineralsti has been officially opened for the 2020 season. There has been taken out stone from the quarry, including the last remains of the 2004 blast, containing quartz crystals. But sadly enough, no blasting so far.

The shop has been given a complete overhaul. A poster exhibition explain the local geology and history, and a showcase show the minerals found at the Evje Mineralsti.


UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2023

This year a few interesting finds were made.

May this year a small cavity was emptied containing semi-shining, partly transparant to translucent smoky quartz/citrin crystals of a size up to ca. 10 cm, with an average of 5-6 cm. Several dozens of OK crystals were found, but there is long in between the few top quality specimens and the average quality.

In August this year, after extensive digging activity, a set of two somewhat larger cavities loaded with crystals was exposed at the bottom of the left quarry wall.

However, few of the retrieved specimens will win a beauty contest, but paragenetically they are interesting: quartz → chlorite → albite → stilpnomelane. The albite forms a thin, fragile crust all over the quartz crystals, and most of these crusts are heavily damaged due to the extreme tight stacking of the crystals and crystal groups. Only one specimen could be retrieved with the albite sufficiently intact to be of display quality.

This find bears close resemblance to a specimen in the collection of the Iveland Kommunesamling IKM143: https://www.mindat.org/photo-454311.html

Several 10 liter buckets could be filled with the crystals from these two cavities.

In May this year collector Martin Handeland from Sandness found a 6,6 kg heavy quartz crystal, which the mineralsti/Fennefoss museum managed to acquire back, and is now at display in the shop at the Evje Mineralsti.

In September a large specimen (0,5 x 0,6 x 0,8 m) with a large stilbite-lined cavity was found. This specimen has been rescued by the municipality and is available for future display purposes.

https://www.mindat.org/photo-1322716.html

On the dumps a single cavity in a larger boulder yielded a smaller number of micro-specimens of stilbite-xx on albite. Not directly super-quality, but nice enough.

In August four larger pieces (plus a few smaller) of allanite were collected just below the left wall, just below the rock plate that threatens to fall down. The in-situ source of this allanite was not observed, but while being found in a very restricted area, it might be assumed that these fragments were part of a single mega-crystal.

Minor finds of "unusual" quartz crystals indicate the presence of cavities/fractures of which we do not have direct knowledge, apart from those sporadic finds.


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

Geochronology

Mineralization age: Neoproterozoic : 904.2 ± 0.3 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
		Neoproterozoic
			Tonian	ⓘ Monazite 904.2 ± 0.3 Ma

Mindat Articles

Landsverk 1, The Jokeli Quarry by Olav Revheim

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References