Ljosland 10 Feldspar Quarry (Storsynken), Ljosland, Iveland, Agder, Norwayi

Regional Level Types
Ljosland 10 Feldspar Quarry (Storsynken)	Quarry
Ljosland	Farm
Iveland	Municipality
Agder	County
Norway	Country

A feldspar quarry worked on a granite pegmatite dike at the western end of the swamp. One of the "gruvene i myra" ("the quarries in the swamp").

A part of the quarry was emptied for water in 2001 and specimens of pyrite, apatite and titanite were found.

Bjørlykke locality n° 72.

COLLECTOR'S NOTE SEPTEMBER 2019

The past two years (2018-2019) local miner and mineral collector Arild Omestad obtained the mineral rights for the Storsynken mine.

The plan was to extract sodium feldspar for export to Germany, and at the same time mine for mineral specimens.

In 2018 he and Tom Udø, who sadly enough died in Decemeber 2018, took out 500 kg of feldspar that was exported to Germany.

During this work they also blasted in other sections in the mine, and found what surely is the finest blue apatite ever found in Norway. A picture of the best specimen will be published later this year.

Several other specimens of fine blue apatite were found.

September 4, Arild Omestad allowed me to collect reference samples for the Evje og Hornnes geomuseum Fennefoss and take pictures of the breccia zone in which the apatite was found.

This is basically the same zone where in 2001 he found

Several crates of material were collected, and a number of interesting samples were found.

-The breccia consisting of feldspar fragments glued together by albite/epidote forms esthetically attractive specimens.

-Brecciated fragments of feldspar that seem to be floaters. The surface consists of albite crystals, with on top a thin layer of epidote crystals.

-Etched aggregates of greyish quartz crystals seem to have formed as floaters in a matrix of chlorite. These are both interesting and attractive.

-Masses of skeletal crusts of epidote, partly on top of albite. The cavities are lined with tiny crystals. It is suggested that the cavities once were filled with calcite.

-Grey albite crystals, forming esthetic samples. In situ large (twin) crystals up to 20 cm accross could be seen.

-Plenty of fragments of blue apatite with inclusions for further study. One sample contains an idiomorphic titanite crystal, while others contain inclusions of chlorite and epidote. The latter would indicate a hydrothermal origin of this apatite, which is in contrast with apatite inclusions with a different shade of blue in the sodium feldspar, seemingly representing a primary phase.

More later.

WARNING: do not enter this mine under any circumstances! Especially the roof of the entrance is exceedingly dangerous and several cases of falling stones have occurred. Only Mr. Omestad is entitled to grant permission to access this mine if the situation is considered to be safe.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References