 The town's cryolite deposit was discovered in 1799 and the veins of silver-bearing lead surrounding it were mined by the British engineer J.W.Tayler before the silver content was found to be too low to make the operation practical.Danish engineers began mining the cryolite itself in 1859 and in 1864 the Danish Kriolit Mine og Handels Selskabet was granted a monopoly on its extraction.