Härsbacka mine
Location
Härsbacka mine is located in Sweden
Härsbacka mine
Härsbacka mine
Location in Sweden
MunicipalityÖsteråker
CountrySweden
Coordinates59°28′49.43″N 18°23′18.78″E / 59.4803972°N 18.3885500°E / 59.4803972; 18.3885500
Production
ProductsQuartz, feldspar
History
Opened1895[1]
Closed1946[1]

Härsbacka mine (Swedish: Härsbacka gruva) is a quartz and feldspar mine. It was once Sweden's foremost quartz mine.[2] The mine was closed in 1946.[1][2] The quartz and feldspar mined in Härsbacka are the main constituent of a large pegmatite dyke.[2] This pegmatite dyke dips about 60 to 70° to the southeast and has a maximum thickness of 37 m.[2] While quartz and feldspar are mostly mixed, pure zones of either occur.[2] Most feldspar is pink microclineperthite and much lesser amounts are white oligoclase.[2] There are lesser quantities of biotite, garnet, molybdenite and fluorite.[2] About 230,000 tons of quartz have been mined in total from Härsbacka mine.[2]

In 1947 the mine was bought by Statens Vattenfallverk to turn it into an oil storage depot and it functioned as such until 1985 when it was emptied.[2] Since 1997 the mine is fully flooded by groundwater.[1] In 2021 the Geological Survey of Sweden was tasked with investigating contaminants in the mine.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Härsbackagruvan". SGU (in Swedish). 2021-11-02. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lundegårdh, Per H. (1971). Nyttosten i Sverige (in Swedish). Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell. p. 19.
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