Helgustadanama Spar Mine百科及旅行攻略

Calcite at Helgustaðanáma spar mine. Photo: Eysteinn Guðni Guðnason, CC BY-SA 4.0

Helgustaðanáma is an abandoned Iceland spar mine on the north shore of Reyðarfjörður in East Iceland, about 10 km east of the town of Eskifjörður. The name simply means "the Helgustaðir mine", after the farm on whose land it lies.

For almost three centuries this small quarry supplied the world with silfurberg, the exceptionally clear calcite crystal known in English as Iceland spar, and many of the Iceland spar specimens in museums today came from here.

The site has been a protected natural monument since 1975 and is reached by a short, signed footpath from Route 954, the road along the north shore of the fjord.

Key Takeaways About Helgustaðanáma

• Abandoned Iceland spar (silfurberg) mine on Helgustaðir land, about 10 km east of Eskifjörður on Route 954.
• Protected natural monument since 1975: removing any crystal or rock is illegal.
• Short signed footpath, about 350 m uphill from the roadside car park and information board; 10-15 minutes each way.
• Route 954 is gravel but fine for a normal car in summer; the track beyond it to Vöðlavík needs a 4x4.
• No fee; a toilet at the car park is open in summer, other services in Eskifjörður.

Why visit Helgustaðanáma

Iceland spar is a transparent form of calcite (calcium carbonate) that splits light into two rays, so that anything viewed through a clear crystal appears doubled.

The Danish scholar Rasmus Bartholin first described this double refraction in crystals from Iceland in 1669, and Christiaan Huygens used the same crystals in his work on the wave theory of light.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries Helgustaðir spar went into Nicol prisms and other polarising optics used in microscopes and instruments for physics, chemistry and geology.

The Icelandic geophysicist Leó Kristjánsson spent years documenting how this one deposit fed the development of optics, which is why the mine is sometimes called the crystal that changed the world.

Old mining machinery at Helgustaðanáma. Photo: Bromr, CC BY-SA 3.0

Spar was first collected here in the 17th century.

Mining began around 1804 and became significant after 1850, and was worked on and off until the first half of the 20th century; in 1920 a tunnel was dug lower on the slope so that the mine could be worked year-round.

The crystals came from cavities and fissures filled with reddish clay, which seems to have protected them, and because spar is brittle it had to be dug out by hand, ideally with wooden wedges. The largest and purest specimens ever found came from this site.

Around 1900 a crystal of about 300 kg, the largest on record, was taken out and cleaved up for processing; some large Helgustaðir crystals survive in museums abroad.

What you see today is a cutting into the hillside, the dark mouth of the old mine tunnel (about 80 m long), and spoil heaps where small cleavage fragments still glitter in the sun, especially after rain.

The site is small, 0.9 hectares, but the view is wide: Reyðarfjörður stretches away below, with the mountains of the south shore across the water and, to the west, Hólmatindur mountain above Eskifjörður.

How to get to Helgustaðanáma

Eskifjörður is about 50 km from Egilsstaðir via Route 92, and roughly 650 km from Reykjavík on Route 1, which means about 9 to 9.5 hours of driving whichever way round the island you go. From the centre of Eskifjörður, follow Route 954 (Helgustaðavegur) east along the north shore of Reyðarfjörður for about 10 km.

The road is gravel and narrow in places but passable for ordinary cars in summer. After you pass the farm Helgustaðir, look for the sign to the mine on the left; there is a small car park with an information board and a summer toilet by the road (at about 65.034°N, 13.860°W).

Iceland spar from Helgustaðir. Photo: Sailko, CC BY 3.0

From the car park a marked footpath climbs the hillside and forks to the two mine openings. The walk is short, about 350 metres uphill from the board to the mine mouth, and takes most people 10 to 15 minutes each way.

Beyond the mine the numbered road ends at Stóra-Breiðavík, and a track continues over Víkurheiði heath to the abandoned cove of Vöðlavík; that stretch is summer-only and for 4x4 vehicles.

Best time to visit

June to September is the best window, when Route 954 is clear and the path is dry. Late summer, when the heath is in flower and the light is low across the fjord in the evening, is especially good.

The road can be closed or impassable in winter and the path icy, so a winter visit is not recommended without local advice.

Safety and practical tips

• Helgustaðanáma is a protected natural monument supervised by the Environment Agency's East Iceland rangers. It is strictly forbidden to remove even the smallest piece of spar or to disturb the rock: photograph, do not pocket.
• Stay on the marked path and do not enter the old mine tunnel; loose rock lies around the openings.
• Wear proper walking shoes. The path is uneven and can be slippery when wet, and the spoil heaps are loose.
• There is a toilet at the car park, open in summer, but no shelter or shop; the nearest services are in Eskifjörður.
• There is no entrance fee and no opening hours; the site is open ground.
• Bring a windproof layer. The hillside is exposed to wind coming up Reyðarfjörður.
• If you want to see Icelandic minerals up close under a roof, Petra's Stone Collection in Stöðvarfjörður, about an hour's drive south, is the best-known collection in the East Fjords.