Wheal Gorland
Location | |
---|---|
Location | St Day |
County | Cornwall |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 50°14′30″N 5°11′02″W / 50.2417°N 5.1839°W |
Production | |
Products | Copper, tin, arsenic and tungsten |
History | |
Opened | 1792, 1906 |
Closed | 1864, 1909 |
Wheal Gorland was a metalliferous mine located just to the north-east of the village of St Day, Cornwall, in England, United Kingdom. It was one of the most important Cornish mines of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, both for the quantity of ore it produced and for the wide variety of uncommon secondary copper minerals found there[1] as a result of supergene enrichment.[2] It is the type locality for the minerals chenevixite, clinoclase, cornwallite, kernowite[3] and liroconite.[4]
History
The production of the mine was very inconsistent because of the sporadic distribution of its rich ore-bodies: in 1833 George Abbot wrote[5] that it had made profits of over £300,000, produced 1,400 tons of ore per annum, and ranked third, in terms of profits,[6] just behind Dolcoath mine and Consolidated Mines. However, in 1865 Thomas Spargo wrote[7] "now part of St. Day United; idle".[8]
In the early 1790s Wheal Gorland was connected to the
The mine was reopened in 1906 when
Since 1988 the site has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of the variety and quality of lead and copper minerals that have been found in the mine dumps.[10] A condition summary compiled on 21 July 2010 reported that the site was in an ″unfavourable declining condition″ because growth of scrubland vegetation was encroaching on to the waste dumps and hindering future excavations in search of minerals for scientific study. The summary further states that the vegetation on the remaining mine dump may also be affecting the minerals themselves, as formation of new soil horizons could affect chemical processes within the dump.[11]
Mineral Statistics
From Robert Hunt's Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom[12].
Year(s) | Ore (Tons) | Metal (Tons) | Value (£) | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
1801 | 435.00 | 39.80 | 3782.75 | Cu est., 6 months only |
1802 | 639.00 | 63.63 | 5411.25 | Cu est., c 6 months only |
1803 | 881.00 | 80.54 | 8119.83 | Cu est., c 8 months only |
1804 | 1536.00 | 123.62 | 13531.88 | Cu est |
1805 | 2242.00 | 164.81 | 22443.80 | Cu est |
1806 | 2293.00 | 169.95 | 16495.40 | .. |
1807 | 2016.00 | 159.50 | 13857.63 | Cu partly est |
1808 | 1640.00 | 151.12 | 10515.98 | Cu est |
1809 | 1198.00 | 78.01 | 8185.58 | Cu est |
1810 | 1395.00 | 87.11 | 7822.83 | .. |
1811 | 1485.00 | 82.94 | 6411.23 | .. |
1812 | 1438.00 | 81.65 | 5695.58 | .. |
1813 | 1102.00 | 76.65 | 6384.83 | .. |
1814 | 1937.00 | 86.01 | 7007.60 | .. |
1815 | 1394.00 | 102.06 | 8221.45 | Fluorspar sold at copper ticketings not included |
1816 | 1177.00 | 85.74 | 5402.05 | Fluorspar sold at copper ticketings not included |
1817 | 1077.00 | 84.08 | 6479.90 | Fluorspar sold at copper ticketings not included |
1818 | 1491.00 | 110.75 | 11288.85 | Fluorspar sold at copper ticketings not included |
1819 | 1611.00 | 124.13 | 11427.40 | .. |
1820 | 1568.00 | 138.90 | 11363.73 | .. |
1821 | 1203.00 | 105.46 | 7806.60 | .. |
1822 | 1412.00 | 144.91 | 11229.63 | .. |
1823 | 1386.00 | 127.34 | 10432.48 | .. |
1824 | 1769.00 | 150.96 | 12604.23 | .. |
1825 | 2180.00 | 155.20 | 15059.80 | .. |
1826 | 2986.00 | 241.83 | 17943.00 | Fluorspar not included |
1827 | 2847.00 | 214.52 | 16455.73 | Fluorspar not included |
1828 | 2885.00 | 201.80 | 15606.30 | Fluorspar not included |
1829 | 2190.00 | 161.47 | 11974.30 | Fluorspar not included |
1830 | 2099.00 | 164.05 | 11507.73 | Fluorspar not included |
1831 | 1158.00 | 100.69 | 6966.85 | Fluorspar not included |
1832 | 1238.00 | 108.70 | 8163.05 | .. |
1833 | 1771.00 | 107.01 | 8357.83 | .. |
1834 | 953.00 | 75.93 | 5913.60 | .. |
1835 | 796.00 | 70.53 | 5369.18 | .. |
1836 | 684.00 | 61.80 | 5949.95 | .. |
1837 | 576.00 | 50.94 | 3785.08 | .. |
1838 | 477.00 | 42.59 | 3362.03 | .. |
1839 | 503.00 | 45.96 | 3414.15 | .. |
1840 | 457.00 | 42.74 | 3510.75 | .. |
1841 | 354.00 | 30.56 | 2739.83 | .. |
1842 | 598.00 | 43.30 | 3268.35 | .. |
1843 | 581.00 | 39.70 | 2833.40 | .. |
1844 | 444.00 | 32.21 | 2288.20 | .. |
1845 | 366.00 | 23.11 | 1652.43 | .. |
1846 | 144.00 | 9.96 | 676.98 | .. |
1851 | 93.00 | 8.19 | 571.85 | From Mineral Statistics |
1852 | 27.00 | 1.90 | 160.40 | From Alfred Jenkin's tables |
1853 | 8.00 | 0.42 | 46.80 | .. |
Year(s) | Black (Tons) | Stuff (Tons) | Value (£) |
---|---|---|---|
1888 | no-details | .. | .. |
1889 | 13.00 | 308.00 | 660.00 |
1890 | .. | 439.00 | 624.00 |
1891 | .. | 167.00 | 200.00 |
1892 | .. | 60.00 | 52.00 |
1893 | no-details | .. | .. |
1898 | .. | 154.00 | 66.00 |
1899 | .. | 25.00 | 70.00 |
1900 | .. | 14.00 | 13.00 |
1908 | 5.90 | .. | 406.00 |
1909 | 11.90 | .. | 851.00 |
1910 | 13.00 | .. | 1,430.00 |
1911 | 3.00 | .. | 327.00 |
1917 | 0.25 | .. | 64.00 |
1918 | 0.45 | .. | 84.00 |
1919 | no-details | .. | .. |
Year(s) | Ore (Tons) | Value (£) |
---|---|---|
1874 | 5.30 | 5.00 |
1876 | 12.30 | 52.00 |
1893 | no-details | .. |
1906 | 4.00 | 22.00 |
1907 | 17.00 | 353.00 |
1908 | 24.00 | 197.00 |
1909 | 56.60 | 497.00 |
1910 | 15.00 | 90.00 |
1911 | 16.00 | 84.00 |
1918 | no detailed return | .. |
Year(s) | Ore (Tons) | Value (£) |
---|---|---|
1899 | 20.50 | 6.00 |
1906 | 26.70 | 2,025.00 |
1907 | 29.40 | 3,620.00 |
1908 | 36.80 | 2,334.00 |
1909 | 70.50 | 6,051.00 |
1910 | 34.00 | 2,924.00 |
1911 | 11.00 | 1,158.00 |
1917 | 0.60 | 109.00 |
1918 | 0.25 | 25.00 |
Year(s) | Total | Overground | Underground |
---|---|---|---|
1888 | 7 | .. | 7 |
1889 | 16 | 1 | 15 |
1890 | 14 | 1 | 13 |
1891 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
1892 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
1898-1899 | 2 | .. | 2 |
1900 | 1 | .. | 1 |
1905 | 24 | 20 | 4 |
1906 | 54 | 37 | 17 |
1907 | 80 | 51 | 29 |
1908 | 88 | 59 | 29 |
1909 | 99 | 54 | 45 |
1910 | 66 | 39 | 27 |
1911-1912 | 61 | 36 | 25 |
1916 | 2 | .. | 2 |
1917 | 2 | .. | 2 |
1918 | 2 | .. | 2 |
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 1-871678-51-X.
- ^ "Camborne School of Mines Virtual Museum - The Cornubian Orefield". University of Exeter. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- ^ "Kernowite: New green mineral discovered in 220-year-old rock". BBC News. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
- ^ "Wheal Gorland, St Day United Mines (Poldice Mines), Gwennap area, Camborne - Redruth - St Day District, Cornwall, England, UK". mindat.org. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- ^ in: An Essay on the Mines of England: Their Importance as a Source of National Wealth
- ^ in a table entitled: Mines which have been continuously productive, and are still working profitably
- ^ on page 54 of: The Mines of Cornwall and Devon: Statistics and Observations (online at Google Books)
- ^ a b "The Mines of Gwennap - Wheal Gorland". Cornwall in Focus. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
- ^ HMSO. p. 408.
- ^ "Wheal Gorland" (PDF). Natural England. 24 June 1988. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
- ^ "SSSI unit information". Natural England. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-85989-889-8.