Raudbergvika

Norwegian folklore tells us that creatures like nymphs and trolls live in the blue mountains – but are mountains blue for real? Here you can see for yourself that rock comes in different colours. The area where you see signs of quarrying is called Robbervika– or ‘red rock bay’. Since the 1980s this open cast mine has produced tonnes of olivine, a mineral that abounds around here. Olivine is a brittle, glass-like rock, with a beautiful green colour. But when olivine oxidises, it turns a reddish brown and is frequently seen as reddish outcrops in areas that are rich in olivine. Olivine is one of Norway’s most important industrial minerals, and the country is responsible for around 50 per cent of the world’s olivine production. Olivine has a high fusion point, and is used in the production of crude iron, as foundry sand and in firebricks. Most farms in this area will have had a whetstone made from Raudbergvika olivine. They used it to sharpen their knives and scythes – and they may well be brought out even today, to sharpen the whittling knife of youngsters keen to make willow whistles in spring.