Owing to the condition of the forests and the consequent rise in the value of charcoal, iron mining has not been very profitable, and many old works have been closed. The Arendal iron-ore mines are the only important mines now worked, and the ore is noted for its excellent quality.
The mining industry
It will thus be seen that the mining industry in Norway is not of very considerable importance, the reason being that, although the country is fairly rich in minerals, the cost of conveyance to the coast is yet too great for much profit to be made.
Those districts which are found to be rich in iron-ore happen to lie in almost inaccessible country, and as coal does not occur except on the out-of-the-way island of Andöen, the native conditions are not favourable for smelting.
In Gudbrandsdal and at several places near Throndhjem soapstone is quarried in considerable quantities, and is now extensively used for building purposes. The cathedral of Throndhjem is built of this stone.
Slate of a beautiful green colour is quarried at Voss and in Valders. Granite, syenite, and porphyry are found in great abundance all over the country.
Minerals which contain rare and beautiful metals and earths occur in several places—at Arendal, for example—and these minerals are highly treasured in all scientific collections.
The village and neighbourhood of Lærdal, or, properly, Lærdalsören, is a notable example of tree-denuded country. Hidden away on a branch of the great Sogne Fjord, and surrounded by bare and massive mountains, Lærdalsören owes its chief, perhaps only, claim to importance from being the chief avenue of traffic to the Sogne Fjord from the land side. Owing to its enclosed situation, the direct rays of the sun do not reach the village during some five months of the winter season, being in this respect in a worse position than Gudvangen.
Lærdal