▁few ▁years ▁later ▁they ▁fell ▁into ▁a ▁decl ine , ▁cit ing ▁a ▁de pression ▁in ▁the ▁ap at ite ▁trade ▁as ▁the ▁main ▁reason . ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 8 8 5 , ▁they ▁had ▁a ▁stock ▁of ▁nearly ▁one ▁million ▁k ron er ' s ▁worth ▁of ▁goods ▁that ▁they ▁jud ged ▁could ▁not ▁be ▁brought ▁to ▁market ▁due ▁to ▁the ▁sudden ▁price ▁drop . ▁They ▁were ▁forced ▁to ▁dr ast ically ▁down size ▁the ▁operation ▁to ▁only ▁ 8 6 ▁workers , ▁leaving ▁nearly ▁ 3 0 0 ▁men ▁un emp loy ed ▁in ▁the ▁process . ▁ ▁Even ▁on ▁a ▁smaller ▁scale , ▁the ▁mine ▁didn ' t ▁produce ▁enough ▁to ▁be ▁prof itable , ▁and ▁by ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 8 9 0 s ▁they ▁had ▁susp ended ▁min ing ▁operations ▁entirely . ▁ ▁The ▁Comp ag nie ▁Fran çaise ▁des ▁M ines ▁de ▁B am ble ▁chose ▁to ▁cut ▁their ▁losses ▁and ▁sold ▁the ▁mine ▁to ▁Norwegian ▁credit ors , ▁turning ▁their ▁focus ▁instead ▁towards ▁the ▁B lika ▁gold ▁mine ▁in ▁Sv art dal , ▁Sel j ord , ▁which ▁they ▁operated ▁until ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁century . ▁ ▁D ah ll ' s ▁V est gru ven ▁mines ▁The ▁western ▁mines ▁were ▁run ▁by ▁Johan ▁D ah ll , ▁a ▁business ▁owned ▁by ▁T elle f ▁D ah ll ▁and ▁Johan ▁Martin ▁D ah ll ▁that ▁owned ▁several ▁mines ▁across ▁Te lem ark . ▁ ▁The ▁company ▁was ▁named ▁after ▁their ▁father , ▁Johan ▁Georg