– There may be hunters or other pedestrians who come over the edge here. If they trip, they slide down. In autumn, snow settles on the ground, which makes it extra difficult to see this hole. And carries it down into the depths, then it’s over, says Ivar Sørnes. The fence that was once supposed to prevent people or tame reindeer from getting too close to the mine shaft has collapsed. Photo: Allan Klo / news He recently came across an old mining area in the mountains close to his home village of Neverfjord, not too far from Hammerfest in Finnmark. The otherwise great hiking terrain hides more than exciting fishing lakes and hunting terrain. Copper mining Not far from the mountaintop at Ivttášvárri, Sørnes discovered an old mine shaft that dates from copper mining in the period 1900 to 1931. According to the NGU, the shaft goes 50 meters into the ground, and is part of a larger network of mine passages in this area. The hole in the ground is five meters wide, and lies in a recess in the landscape. Around the hole is a rusty fence, most of it flat on the ground. – There is not much security in this, not at all. The hole is wide open during the day, says the hiking enthusiast. This is the mine opening that goes 50 meters straight down. In the surrounding area there are remains from mining that took place in the period 1900–1931. Photo: Allan Klo / news The mountain areas around what used to be called Kvalsund municipality contain enormous amounts of copper. After operations ended in 1931, anything of value was taken down from the mountain. The remains were left behind, and lie unsecured and unmarked. A stone’s throw from the mine opening are the remains of what was once a copper mine. Foundation walls and rusty equipment are strewn about. A ten meter high rock pile is the remains of the ore extractions that were made right here. Fatal accidents Old mine openings have caused fatal accidents. In April 1977, a 17-year-old boy died when he fell 60 meters into an unsecured mine shaft at Kongsberg. He was on skis, and the snow had settled over the fences around the mine opening. The area was left over from silver mining, and was not cleared and secured until 2006, i.e. 29 years after the accident. According to the Directorate for Mineral Management, there are 2,300 known mine openings on the Norwegian mainland. 30 per cent, or 700 of these are not secured, says senior adviser Wenche Johnsson at the Directorate for Minerals Management. Wenche Johnsson is a senior advisor at the Directorate for Mineral Management. – In this case, there is a lack of a legal basis for placing the responsibility on a few individuals, she says. Photo: Jeanett Haugstulen Grinden / Directorate for Mineral Management – For the majority of these, it has previously been assessed that there is no need for protection. We are now working on a new risk assessment for both previously unsecured and secured openings to map the need for security and maintenance as of today, she says. – Who is responsible for ensuring that mine shafts like this are secured? – In this case, there is a lack of a legal basis for placing the responsibility on some individual. After all, we administer the Minerals Act, and it has no basis for us to give orders to anyone to secure old mining areas, emphasizes Johnsson. The remains of the mining operations remain in the otherwise scenic landscape at Neverfjord in Vest-Finnmark. Photo: Allan Klo / news Finnmarkseiendommen owns the land Today, Finnmarkseiendommen (FeFo) owns the land. Head of the property department, Bjørn-Rikart Pedersen says they are not going to secure the area. – When FeFo was established in 2006, we were put in charge of the land belonging to the Finnmarkseiendommen. The way we see it, we cannot take responsibility for everything that has been done on the Finnmark property before that time, he says. Property manager at Finnmarkseiendommen, Bjørn-Rikart Pedersen, says they cannot take responsibility for what has been done on state land before they took over the land in 2006. Photo: Emilie Wilberg / Finnmarkseiendommen – This is a mining operation where any income has accrued to the state. We therefore believe that the state is the closest to bearing the costs of securing such areas, Pedersen points out. – Not the municipality’s responsibility Hammerfest municipality emphasizes that it is not their responsibility to secure the area. – The municipality is not responsible for securing an area that belongs to others, says assistant councilor Gunnar Lillebo. – But doesn’t Hammerfest municipality have a responsibility to ensure the safety of its own residents? – The municipality absolutely has a responsibility for its residents. But in all contexts, it is not possible to ensure some kind of incident that a resident or a visitor comes out for, says Lillebo. – The municipality is not responsible for securing an area that belongs to others, says assistant councilor in Hammerfest, Gunnar Lillebo. Photo: Dan Robert Larsen news has requested an interview with the Ministry of Trade and Fisheries in this case, but has so far not received a reply.
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700 old mine tunnels in Norway lack protection and marking – news Troms and Finnmark
