EuChems Landmark Award – fagseminar og prisavduking
The Landmark is based on the mining community in Modum, Norway, centred around the Blue Colour Works (BCW) factory, which was established in 1776 and remained in operation until 1898. The plant is unique in the sense that it consists of sites representing all aspects of cobalt pigment production, in total 60 well preserved buildings located in clusters over an area of ca. 100 hectare.
For more than 100 years the BCW was a site for technology development and production of blue pigment from cobalt — both as ready-made pigment and its raw product —with arsenic as a by-product.
The blue pigment was in high demand internationally for use in glazes and colouring of glass and porcelain, in artistic paints, and for bluing paper and textiles. BCW took over the market from Central European companies, which had produced blue pigments for centuries for the porcelain industry. Under German leadership in the 1830s and 40s the BWC became the largest industrial corporation in Norway, with a workforce of more than 1000 men and an annual production of more than 150 tons. The BCW markets were mainly in the UK (e.g., approx. 70% of the total import in 1832), Belgium, and the Netherlands, and even China and the USA. At its peak, the Landmark was one of the most important producers of cobalt blue in the world. From the 1840s, the main product was pure cobalt oxide, but well before the works closed in 1898, cobalt schlich and white arsenic became increasingly important.
BWC developed a new method that made ores poor in cobalt commercially valuable, which led to international publications. Contributions were also made to mineralogy by studies on iso- and polymorphism, and by descriptions of new minerals. Because BCW technology was focused on the production of smalt, a production that was in decline elsewhere, however, the technological advances at Modum made more impact on the regional than the global production. Moreover, due to the secrecy of the cobalt industry until the early 19th century, the transfer and spread of technological advances were limited. Most of the technology and leadership needed to construct and run BCW were obtained by unlawful means of industrial espionage and recruitment in Hessen and Saxony. As noted above, BCW became a central player in the 19th century European pigment industry, until synthetic organic colors gradually started to replace colors based on inorganic pigments.
The chemical work at BWC required specialized personnel, and workers were trained to handle poisonous materials resulting in protection and health care measures. To keep their workers, the BCW invested in “social welfare” in accordance with mining legislation and traditions, e.g., by establishing schools and health care for workers and their families. Widows were provided for with work and housing. Those measures, documented by contemporary accounts, make BCW a landmark also in social organization in industry.
Our sincerely thanks to our sponsors: Norsk Mineral and Glencore.
The Summit is organized by Norwegian Chemical Society, Blaafarveværket and EuChems.
