For many centuries, the local farmers ran the mining business until 1872 , when the rights to the lime were sold to Mønsted Kalkværker . Until 1953 there were chalk breaking activities in the mine. The limestone is located in some places in northern Jutland very close to the ground surface. This is due to a thick salt layer in the underground below the limestone. The layer of salt was deposited at a time when the area was covered by a shallow sea. The salt has a small density compared to other deposited layers. Because of this, the salt 'slowly' flows towards the surface, while the heavier...

For many centuries, the local farmers ran the mining business until 1872 , when the rights to the lime were sold to Mønsted Kalkværker . Until 1953 there were chalk breaking activities in the mine. The limestone is located in some places in northern Jutland very close to the ground surface. This is due to a thick salt layer in the underground below the limestone. The layer of salt was deposited at a time when the area was covered by a shallow sea. The salt has a small density compared to other deposited layers. Because of this, the salt 'slowly' flows towards the surface, while the heavier layers 'sink' into the subsoil. When the salt moves towards the surface, it pushes chalk and lime in front of it. When the salt layer reaches the groundwater , it does not rise higher as the water dissolves it and removes it. Only dissolved minerals remain and form a gypsum shell on top of the salt layer. Once the salt has reached it, in some places it has pushed chalk and lime so high that it is only a few meters below the ground surface. Normally, these layers would be at a depth of about 4-500 meters. Mønsted Kalkgrube, Daugbjerg Kalkgrube and Tingbæk Kalkgrube are all such raised lime layers. The lime can be washed away with subterranean sources and submerged water, thereby forming natural underground passages and caves. The underground passages can collapse and thereby form so-called earthfall holes , where the surface earth suddenly disappears in a hole. There are not many hole-living animals in Denmark , but especially one expensive species has learned to utilize the constant temperature of the caves. The limestone mines in Jutland are known for their large amounts of bats that winter in the frost-free environment of the caves. In August , the bats gather in the caves to mate, and then they go to sleep the same place until spring, when they reappear. In Mønsted Kalkgruber there is a common water flag mouse and the rarer pond flag . The mine is nowadays most known as a tourist attraction , where occasionally concerts are held in the beautiful, almost cathedral-like large rooms. But in fact the mine is still exploited industrially. Arla has rented a large part of the walking area in the mine for maturation of Riberhus grubeoste. The cheeses are maturing for three weeks in the cool times, where the temperature never exceeds 8 degrees, while the humidity is constantly around 98%. This provides a perfect environment for the ripening of cheeses - so perfect that it pays to transport the cheeses into the narrow old mines and turn them every week for three weeks until maturation is complete. Most cheeses are then exported to Germany .