Birtavarre gruver – Nordlige folk

Only the ruins bear witness to the industrial adventure that took place in Ankerlia in Birtavarre from 1898-1919. The Birtavarre mines, also known as Verket, employed over 250 people at their peak. Swedes, Norwegians, Kvens, Sami, Finns and Russians worked here under very difficult conditions, and large quantities of copper ore were shipped out of the valley. For many of the workers, the cemeteries in Lyngen became their final resting place.

As early as 1860, ore was discovered in the Kåfjord valley, but this did not lead to any significant operations. The boom and optimism that characterised the mining sector in the 1890s led to a significant number of claims being filed in the Lyngen region, as in the rest of the country. Trial operations were initiated in several places, including Skardalen. In 1895, a discovery was made that led to a 20-year industrial adventure in Ankerlia. Wholesaler Christian Anker from Fredrikshald (Halden) acquired the rights to the deposits, and test mining was started together with the English company The Norwegian Copper Mines Ltd. During the period of operation, Verket, as it was popularly known, also had names such as The Venture Corporation Ltd, A/S Birtavarre Gruber and A/S Birtavarre. Three main mines were opened: Moskogaisa, Sabitjokk and Skaidi.

Mining town

Within a few years, a small town was formed around the mines. A smelting plant was built, along with a power station that produced electrical energy for ore smelting, cableways to the mines and a horse track road for transport to the quay 12 kilometres further down. The place of administration was Ankerlien, and here stood director Gudrand Thesen's beautiful farm with stables, toilets and outbuildings. Thesen also had both servants and governesses for his children. Housing was built for the ladders and clerks, as well as a school, general store and post office. The workers were crammed into primitive and cold barracks in rooms with 8-10 bunks. The workers had to eat, sleep and dry their clothes here, and bedbugs and cockroaches also thrived here. Many workers preferred to live in mud pits.

From a newspaper article in Nordlys 1914, under the headline: «From Birtavarre. Et industrihelvede» (From Birtavarre. An industrial hell) describes the conditions for the workers:

The most elementary health measures are totally neglected. Not even drinking water is provided. Throughout the winter, people are forced to fetch water from a small hole where they have to crawl on all fours through a snow tunnel to get hold of a water spigot. Nor is there any provision for a step-off. In front of one of the barracks we were in, the rubbish heap was right up on the doorstep. We will not attempt to describe the appearance of the room. We will only remark that we were filled with an almost religious gratitude for being able to leave the pigsty whenever we wanted. It was very characteristic what one of the older workers said: "The priests talk about the kingdom of death," he said, "but the kingdom of death is here in Birtavarre.

It wasn't just the living conditions that were basic and miserable. Safety was poor, labour regulations were unreasonable and wages were low in the early years. The mines were also located in very remote areas, and the climate was harsh. Blasting and other accidents were common, and for many of the workers, Lyngen became their final resting place. Communication up to the mines was miserable, and it was a long way to doctors and hospitals.
At the end of 1917, the average wage for miners in Birtvarre was just over a crown, which was well paid and therefore attracted a number of workers to the mines despite the poor conditions.

The climate and the primitive conditions meant that there was a large influx of labourers to the mines in all years. In the small, closed village of Birtavarre, Laestadianism was strong, and there was a great deal of scepticism about the foreign workers who invaded the village with their customs and practices. Alcohol, card games, dancing and fighting were common among the miners.

Over time, the mines attracted a significant number of workers from the local community. Many gave up fishing and farm work in favour of earning a wage in the mines.

Bankruptcy and fire

Despite fires, changes of ownership and floods that affected the entire community of Birtavarre, the mines remained in operation until 1919. When the smelter burned down, there was no longer any reason for further operations. Birtavarre Gruber was already bankrupt when this fire occurred. Continued operation would cost too much. The need for copper was no longer so great, and new mines were opened elsewhere in the world with far lower operating costs.

For many of the workers, both locals and travellers, who had based their future income on Verket, the consequences were severe. The bankruptcy came in addition to the economic downturn after the First World War. There was unemployment and hardship in Kåfjord. Several bachelors had learnt a trade for life and found work in other mines, including on Svalbard.

Many, especially travellers, who had no family in Birtavarre, and who also did not have the money to travel from the village... drifted like shavings on the sea out of Kåfjorden.

Ole Elvenes worked as a young man at the mining facilities in Birtavarre in the early 1900s. He talks about working conditions and accidents at the mines.

Watch the film Rallarens testamente, NRK 1982

The old mining environment in Kåfjord in North Troms is portrayed through a film made by Kjell Fjørtoft, photographs from the same environment and songs by Trygve Hoff.

Russe-Simen in Lyngen, From the History of Norway, Karsten Alnæs

Just as the others had erected the stuffing box and were about to return to the stross, they heard a crash. They rushed over, and there lay Simen. A large boulder had fallen out of the hanger. He was wedged between the boulder and the wall, and he couldn't move. The men reached under the boulder and tore down the wall where Simen was lying, then pried him free. One of the men ran to the telephone in the mine and dialled the doctor in Birtavarre. But the mine was a long way from the town centre, and the doctor couldn't get up to the mine. They didn't have anything like medicine or bandages.

The ladderman's cook, her name was Bertine Hansen, was a resolute woman, says a miner. Bertine had his clothes peeled off and there were no visible injuries, apart from a few scratches. The men realised that the injuries were internal. With a little alcohol and naphtha, Russe-Simen came round. The men nailed together a crate, wrapped him in reindeer skins and blankets, and put him on a sledge. The mine was up in the mountains. They had to attach ropes to the crate and lower it down a precipice to get down to Ankerlia. Four men stood behind and held onto the ropes, while one man on each side used the ropes to pull the crate down the slope. On the precipice, one of the men became dizzy and had to turn round. Bertine took his place. She had a bottle of spirits and coffee with her, which she occasionally gave to Simen.

By the time the men had manoeuvred the crate with Simen down to Ankerlia, almost all the workers were there. They put the crate on a trolley. A track had been laid from the smelting hut in Ankerlia down to the pier. A horse used to haul goods up from the boats to the smelting hut and copper from the hut down to the pier. Now Simen was transported the same way. The men then carried their friend to the steamship forwarder and left him there. The doctor soon arrived, but there was nothing he could do. After an examination, he determined that Simen had broken his back and that he needed to get to the hospital in Tromsø as soon as possible. But the local boat didn't leave for another 24 hours. The men decided that they had to transport him by motorboat to Skjervøy and then by express ferry to Tromsø. Bertine and one of the men went with them, but the miner turned round at Skjervøy and took the local boat back. Bertine went with him to Tromsø. When the miner returned to the mine two days later, he received a call from Tromsø saying that Simen had died.

Birtavarre blues, Trygve Hoff

Come and join the singing now
in Birtavarre blues
Come join the singing
about rallar and about bus
who came here to the Kåfjord
to earn money for spirits and snus

Wear and tear
and Birtavarre blues
they got a rotten hourly wage
and fucking cold houses
They fight with ore during the day
and a night of cockroaches and bedbugs

Bad food
and Birtavarre blues
Yellow and rancid pork and
cold coffee mugs
and the bread in the cupboard
must share with rats and mice

pitch black night
and Birtavarre blues
Saturday laundry made easy
where only the undershirt is turned inside out
So pull yourself onto the bottle
to forget everything in the blissful intoxication of liquor

Women suck
and Birtavarre blues
Take a trip to Tromsø
live a few days in the hustle and bustle
with twisted inner pockets
for a night at the best whorehouse in town

The north wind sings
in Birtavarre blues
All people are gone now
both mining lice and bus
But in Sabitjohk and Moskogaise
Searching for them among burnt-out slag and gravel