Helleren in Jøsingfjord
This cache is placed near the beautiful Jøssingfjord, which has
been the site of conflicts where each side has seen the problem in
black and white.
To get to the cache, first park near the trail to Helleren (be sure
to take the time to walk over to the 2 small houses under the
montain. They are named Helleren.) .
The cache is located very very near the site of ruins on an old
iron & zink smelter. (Up here you can find lots of quartz
pieces and some zinc slag). The cache is also available in the
winter (although there is seldom much snow here).
History
Due to the mineralogical riches in the surrounding rocks (and
lakes), Jøssingfjord has been the site of industry for over 100
years. In 1890 “kiselgur” and kaolinite deposits were
discovered in the area. (Kiselgur is formed from little silica
diatoms, like plankton, that live in the lakes. After many many
many years the dead diatoms on the bottom form thick layers).
Anyway, near “Holmen” a factory was built in the
1890’s for the Kiselgur, which was used as an additive for
dynamite and linoleum. The kaolinite project turned out to be an
economic fiasco after an aerial tramway was built to Holmen from
Dydland. In 1909, Albert Hiorth made smelting history by pioneering
a new steel smelting technique at this site. .
On February 16th, 1940, Jøssingfjord became the center of an
international conflict that made many see things black &
white…maybe gray…and certainly red. The British
Destroyer “Cossack” started chasing the German tanker
“Altmark”. Norwegian waters were at that time neutral
but the British had determined that the tanker was carrying British
prisoners…a violation of Norway’ neutrality. By
command of none other than Churchill, the Altmark was attacked and
boarded, killing 7 German sailors, and freeing 299 Allied
prisoners. The Norwegian navy did not intervene in this conflict.
About 2 months later, Norway was invaded by Germany. Later the word
“Jøssing” became a term of honour for those who
demonstrated resistance to the occupational force. Near the end of
the war allied planes attacked German ships anchored in
Jøssingfjord on the 13th of April, 1945. During this raid 4 New
Zealand airmen were lost at sea, J. Brightwell, E. Foy, R. Nugent
& J. Parkens..
In more recent times Jøssingfjord became the site of another
conflict. This time between a fledgling environmental organization,
Belona, and a local mining company, Titania. Both sides saw the
issue in black and white, but the mining company was forced to
yield to their demands. Today black & white at Jøssingfjord has
a more peaceful meaning. Today Titania still mines and produces an
ilmenite concentrate from one of the world’s largest deposits
in hard rock. Their ore drying plant can be seen on the cliffs
above Jøssingfjord and ships can often be seen loading the ore
concentrate. Ilmenite is a black iron & titanium mineral
(FeTiO3) which is used to produce white pigment (titanium dioxide).
The pigment is nearly everywhere…in paints…tooth
paste…foods (fish balls)... you name it.
va ynetr fdhner ubyr va jnyy
nobhg 1.5 zrgref hc
ybpngrq oruvaq fznyy fgbarf