Knaben is an old

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

village in the northern part of Kvinesdal municipality in Agder county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Currently, the mine is no longer in use, but the area has become a popular

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

. The village lies at an elevation of above sea level, about north of

Liknes Liknes is the administrative centre of Kvinesdal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located along the river Kvina, about north of the mouth where it empties into the Fedafjorden. The village of Storekvina lies about to the nor ...

and about east of

Tonstad Tonstad is the administrative centre of the municipality of Sirdal in Agder county, Norway. The village is located at the northern end of the lake Sirdalsvatnet in the Sirdalen valley. The village has a population (2015) of 874, giving the vill ...

in Sirdal municipality. The

molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'', which is based on Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lea ...

mines were operated here from 1885 to 1973. Buildings and constructions are still partly intact. The workers' living houses are now used as tourist lodgings.

Nature

The Knaben uplands (''Knabeheiene'') are mainly located at an elevation of between above sea level. The area has a rich bird-life and animal life, with

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

black grouse The black grouse (''Lyrurus tetrix''), also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in moorland and step ...

lagopus ''Lagopus'' is a small genus of birds in the grouse subfamily commonly known as ptarmigans (). The genus contains three living species with numerous described subspecies, all living in tundra or cold upland areas. Taxonomy and etymology The ge ...

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

, and

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

Mining activity

Occurrence of molybdenite was the basis for the mining activities at Knaben. In 1897, it was determined that tempering of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

with molybdenum resulted in an

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...

with qualities favourable for weapon production. In 1902, the mining rights of the area were bought for , and subsequently sold to an English company in 1904 for . Due to low molybdenum prices the mining operations ceased in 1909.

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

led to an uprise at Knaben. At its height ten different mining companies had operations in the area, but all operations ceased when the war was over. The Swedish company

Avesta Järnverks AB The Avesta () is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, composed in the Avestan language. The Avesta texts fall into several different categories, arranged either by dialect, or by usage. The principal text in the litu ...

took over from

A/S Knaben Molybdængruber As, AS, A. S., A/S or similar may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * A. S. Byatt (born 1936), English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer * "As" (song), by Stevie Wonder * , a Spanish sports newspaper * , an academic male voice ...

, and the production increased through the 1930s, with about 400 mine workers and a total population at Knaben of about 700.

Second World War

At the time Norway was invaded in 1940, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Knaben mines were one of the only molybdenum mines in Europe still in operation. The occupying German forces stationed about 1,000 men in the area, and established gun sites for anti-aircraft guns. The mine operations were the target for allied bombing twice in 1943. The first attack took place on 3 March, with 10 British

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or ...

strike fighter In current military parlance, a strike fighter is a multirole combat aircraft designed to operate both as an attack aircraft and as an air superiority fighter. As a category, it is distinct from fighter-bombers. It is closely related to the c ...

s of

No. 139 Squadron RAF No. 139 (Jamaica) Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was fighter unit in World War I and a bomber unit from World War II until the 1960s. History Formation and World War I No. 139 Squadron Royal Air Force was formed on 3 July 191 ...

participating. The second attack was on 16 November, when 130 American B-17 bombers from the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

(in its mission number 131) attacked the Knaben molybdenum mines in a raid against Norway.

Post-war

The school at Knaben was built in 1954. In 1973, the mining company announced it would cease operations. The mines were finally closed on 30 April 1973, and the village was more or less abandoned. A museum, Knaben Gruvemuseum has been established in the old administration building, and is run by ''Knabens Venner'' and Kvinesdal municipality. Norsk Bergverksmuseum is running a pilot project at the Knaben mining community. A large sand deposit in the valley is a visible result from 88 years of mining activity. The percentage of

was low, on average below 0.2%. The sand deposits cause some leaching of metals (cadmium, copper and molybdenum), and flotation of chemicals into the river

Kvina Kvina is a river in Southern Norway. The long river begins in the Setesdalsheiene mountains in the municipality of Valle in Agder county and it flows south, along the former Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder county border, through the Kvinesdalen valle ...

. Today, tourism is the main activity at Knaben. There is an alpine ski resort in operation, and several mountain

cabin Cabin may refer to: Buildings * Beach cabin, a small wooden hut on a beach * Log cabin, a house built from logs * Cottage, a small house * Chalet, a wooden mountain house with a sloping roof * Cabin, small free-standing structures that serve as in ...

resorts. The ski resort operates three different

piste A ''piste'' () is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French

s of around 1,000m (3,280 ft) each, with an elevation of 182 m (597 ft).

Media gallery

Molybdänit aus Knabengruver, Norwegen.jpg, Molybdenite from the mine Ned mot Knaben sentrum-skole.jpg, Sand deposits at Knaben 169703 Knaben gruver (9217140602).jpg, View of the mine buildings Utsikt fra Husmorløypa.jpeg, View of the village and sand deposits

References

{{use dmy dates, date=November 2020 Mining communities in Norway Mining in Norway Villages in Agder Kvinesdal