Östra Silvberg gruva

Useful Information

Location:	783 91 Borlänge. Highway 70 Borlänge-Enköping, exit Mora, at the road Mora-Magnilbo. (60.347707, 15.585134)
Open:	no restrictions. [2022]
Fee:	free. [2022]
Classification:	Silver Mine Zinc Mine
Light:	n/a
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Östra Silvberg gruva, 78391 Säter.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

15th century	beginning of silver mining.
~1510	its heyday ended because of the discovery of Salberget, Sala silver mine.
1580	mined out, mining ends.
early 18th century	bought by the mill owners Adolph Christiernin and Fredrik Rothoff in search of gold.
19th century	sulfur ore mined.
1915-1920	mining of zinc and sulfur ore obviously caused by World War I.
1931	cable car demolished.

Geology

Description

Östra Silvberg gruva (Eastern Silver Mountain Mine) is actually a self-guided mine. There is no underground tour, the open cast mine is filled with turquoise water and sometimes listed as swimming lake.

This is one of the older silver mines in Sweden. It was opened in the 15th century, lost importance after Sala was discovered in 1510, and was mined out and closed in 1580. At this time the mine had already reached a depth of 220 m. But this was not the end of the story. Ihe mine was bought in the early 18th century by the mill owners Adolph Christiernin and Fredrik Rothoff. It seems Adolph Christiernin had the idea that there were large amounts of gold in the mine. There was no fact backing this, it was just his delusion, but he spent all his money in the vain attempt to find gold. Mining actually was reactivated in the 19th century, the ores here are polymetallic and sulfur based, the mining was mainly for the sulfur. And a final reactivation between 1915 and 1920 to mine zinc and sulfur ore was obviously caused by World War I. They pumped all the water from the large mine which took two years, and they invested in an expensive cable car. The cable car was demolished in 1931. During all this times a modest amount of 91.3 kg silver was also produced.

Today the water-filled open pit is an immensely popular bathing spot. This is actually not a good idea, as the water contains minerals dissolved from the remaining ores. Also in 2015 almost 20 cars and barrels with suspicious chemicals were discovered on the bottom. The municipality does not take water samples, obviously fearing the results would force them to spend a lot of money cleaning up. We suggest to enjoy the blue colour of the water but refrain from bathing.