THE LAND ANNEXATIONS 1898-1925 PIONEERS Søren Zachariassen COMPANIES Norwegian German Swedish British American Russian/Norwegian Others THE CLAIM SIGNS The claim signs ADOLF HOEL SOURCES Earl Morton and Lord Balfour Spitzbergen Coal and Mineral Ltd was founded in London in 1905. Main shareholders were Earl Morton and Lord Balfour of Burleigh. They concentrated on the areas around Bellsund and Braganza, but they also claimed land on Kapp Thordsen and in Kongsfjorden. Earl Morton transferred his shares to The Northern Exploration Company in 1908. ”Two Scottish peers, yachting in Spitsbergen waters, erected a number of claim boards at various places, including Coal Haven, where Poole had found coal three centuries previously; at Cape Thordsen, on the site of the abandoned phosfate mine; in Lowe Sound, and elsewhere. It was only in Lowe Sound that developments took place. There the Spitsbergen Mining and Exploration Company for several years had a few men at work on a coal seam, but the mine never reached the stage of export, and ultimately passed into other hands.” from Adolf Hoel: Svalbard, vol.2