Silver from Kristiansand
This sample of leaf-shaped silver in a vein of calcite is from the Hagen silver quarry, an occurrence on a small skerry in Otra near Strai, approx. 7 km north of the estuary in Kristiansand. The cut was no larger than 2×2 m2 and was located on the grounds of Ole Grindland. He obtained the exploitation rights on 30 March 1920 by reporting the find to the sheriff in the then-existing municipality of Oddernes, but the silver deposit had probably been known to the family for a long time.
The Kristiansand nickel refining company bought the rights in the summer of 1920. Two men worked in the quarry for a month and a half in October and November 1920, and approx. 13 kg of silver was mined from a total mass of almost four tonnes. Half of the skerry was eventually blown away and later, during road construction, a cut was made in the rock near the deposit and rock mass was filled into Otra all the way to the skerry. At the location there is now a small headland out in Otra, but there is no more silver to be found there.
The label states “Kvernvolden Station” as the place of discovery. This was the nearest railway station, which in 1921 changed its name to Strai. The station was located approx. 1 km south of the skerry and on the other side of the river. The station was eventually moved and then closed in 1967.