Chapter XXV: Section III

Mr Consul Crowe’s Report (1871-72) supplies the following notices of mineral prospects in Iceland:

Mineral deposits, showing the presence of copper, iron, lead, and silver, are found in many parts of the island, but either from their poorness or the want of fuel, no attempt has been made to utilise them. Calcareous stone, marbles(?), and feldspath are also found; and large deposits of sulphur likewise exist in some districts, which at different times have been the object of commercial speculation. The sulphur mines at Krisuvik, in the south, are at present worked for foreign account, but, I believe, owing to their partial inaccessibility, and difficulty of transport, without much success.

The right of working sulphur mines at Myvatn, in the northern portion of the island, has recently been conceded by the Danish Government to an Englishman on a fifty years’ lease. They were worked some years ago for account of a Copenhagen house, but were abandoned in 1851, since which time they have remained closed. Many causes contributed to this result; the chief of which, doubtless, were, ignorance of the proper method of mining the sulphur, the cost of transport on horseback to the sea-board, and the want of remunerative demand.

Since then these conditions have changed, and there exists no reason why these mines should not be worked profitably. They extend over a large tract of country, and their position is most advantageous, in the midst of a flat country, within an easy distance of Husavik, a convenient shipping port; and, during the many years they have been closed, the deposits must have very greatly accumulated, and should yield abundantly. Indeed, so strong was this conviction in the minds of the natives that they long opposed the leasing except on very onerous terms, although quite unable themselves to work them.

As these mines are now likely to remain in English hands for many years, a short account of their former history may be read with some interest.

They are situated between 65° 20´ north latitude and the Arctic Sea, or more definitely speaking, lying in the tract between Myvatn on the east, and Jökulsá (glacier river) on the west.

The right of working them was bought from private owners by the Danish king, Frederick the Second, in 1563, and this right has ever since been in the possession of the Danish Crown (now the State). During the reign of this king a considerable quantity of sulphur was extracted, amounting to as much as 400 tons annually. In the reign of his son and successor, Christian the Fourth, the produce appears to have fallen off, and his Majesty was unsuccessful in his endeavours to lease them to foreigners. To the falling-off of their supply of sulphur in this reign, and the consequent scarcity of gunpowder, the Danes attribute their defeat by the Swedes in Holstein (1644).

In 1665 we are informed that the Crown granted a concession for “digging sulphur” to a foreigner, who is stated to have exported large quantities up to the year 1676; since which date no special mention appears to have been made of them until the early part of the eighteenth century, when two foreigners, apparently Germans, acquired in 1724 the right of exporting sulphur from Iceland. They also shipped considerable quantities during the succeeding five years, when the death of the lessees put a stop to this commerce.

After this date, and up to the beginning of the present century, the Danish Government worked the mines for their own account, at times, it appears, with considerable profit, until 1806, when they were again leased to a foreigner. Subsequently, they have at times been worked by private speculators up to 1851, since which date, as already mentioned, they have remained untouched.

In 1840 they were visited by some scientific travellers, who calculated that these northern mines might easily yield an annual net profit of £1000 or £1200. Ten years later they were specially examined by a Danish mineralogist, who discredited this statement, and reported them to be less valuable;[177] but in speaking of the Krisuvik mines in the south, he says, “These might be easily made to yield 200 tons annually,” and yet they have always been considered inferior to the northern mines. A French geologist, Eugène Robert, who visited Iceland in 1835, and afterwards published a treatise on its geology, calls the attention of the Danes to the value of the Myvatn mines, and advises them not to lease them to the Englishmen (who were then applying for them), as the property might become of great consequence in the event of the sulphur mines of Sicily falling off, of which, he affirmed, symptoms had shown themselves.

It will thus be seen that opinions are divided as to the productiveness and present richness of these mines; but so much is certain, that they have for several centuries been worked at intervals with varying results; at times with considerable profit: the history of the country, and the experience of so many years, point to the conclusion that, if properly worked, they would become valuable property.

The mines, for instance, at Reykjahlidar-námar are the richest to be found in all Iceland, and produce large quantities of the purest sulphur.

The reproduction is incessantly going on from upwards of a thousand small eminences, called solfataras, which are found on the ridge along the sides and at the foot of Námarfjall. Rich sulphur deposits are also found at the Ketill Crater (called Fremri-námar), while the least rich are the Krafla-námar, but at all these there is a continual deposition of sulphur going on. They all have the great advantage of lying in the track of one of the few practicable roads in the island, leading to an accessible shipping port.