real time web analytics
Report - - Parc Lead Mine - North Wales - Sept 17 | Mines and Quarries | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Parc Lead Mine - North Wales - Sept 17

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

Lenston

Bajo Tierra
Regular User
Visited with @The Kwan

A nice wander around the upper levels of this mine, some nice bits dotted about with false floors everywhere so a keen eye on your footing is essential. A return visit needed to see some of the lower levels and thanks to @The Kwan for another great afternoon in North Wales.

Some History

Parc Mine was the last working mine in the Gwydyr Forest and its extensive connections with older mines make it an important resource from the point of view of both history and industrial archaeology. The mine started life as part of Gwydyr Park Consols in 1883 and passed through various hands over the years. While both lead and zinc concentrates were sold, this generally didn’t cover working costs of the mines so that many of these enterprises ran at a loss.

Eventually the long suffering mine shareholders forced liquidation of the companies and the mine setts were sold on to restart the cycle. After the Second World War prospects improved and more modern equipment and better separation plant increased yields and the mine ran at a profit. Sadly the yields of ore at depth proved to be poor and by the late 50’s a combination of low content and poor metal prices meant the enterprise was finished. By that time the principal lode had been driven to connect with the older Llanrwst and Cyffty mines, but neither offered any substantial reserves of ore.

During the early 60’s the mine was used for experiments with new ore separation techniques and a considerable amount of material was processed. While the experiment showed the new techniques where worthwhile it also demonstrated that the overall yields from the feedstock were commercially unviable and this marked the end of mining in the Gwydyr Forest. In 1968 the mine was used as the location of an experiment to try and measure the deformation of the coastal region due to the tides. An area on level 2 was prepared and sensitive pendulums and ancillary equipment was installed. The results were not conclusive as problems associated with the deformation of the rock cavity housing the equipment marred the measurements. The equipment was removed from the mine and the portals sealed.

Pics

37398682842_eca7635493_c.jpg


36759111193_3bbdcdd803_c.jpg


23578239248_00701dc030_c.jpg


36759083033_226822157b_c.jpg


36719872984_1b7fafea98_c.jpg


23577896978_fc71a53b02_c.jpg


36759064223_a8d76abecd_c.jpg


36759951483_6402e957b2_c.jpg


37383147776_697a5a516a_c.jpg


36759094393_5d6f9163b2_c.jpg

Le Kwan
37178765730_1b5637d466_c.jpg


37173339390_a4e764a36f_c.jpg


Thanks for looking

 
Last edited:

pirate

Rum Swigger
28DL Full Member
That looks like an interesting mine.
Great pics.

How do you know if you're on a false floor ? Are they indicated on surveys/plans or is it just a case of treading carefully ?
 

The Kwan

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Amazing pictures Lenny, it was really nice to catch up again in person, never seen so many lovely ore chutes in a mine before or false floors for that matter, absolutely shocking some of those drops.
glad you took in all the tips about camera settings :D
Thanks for the great company :thumb
 

The Kwan

28DL Regular User
Regular User
How do you know if you're on a false floor ? Are they indicated on surveys/plans or is it just a case of treading carefully ?
Generally you can hear the sound change under your feet as you walk to a hollow noise but more often the timbers are that rotted over the years that they have caved in and are really obvious to see.
like this one from mine in Lenstons report, the drop was about 70ft down but you would have to be blind not to see it however, someone has obviously had a shock when they originally discovered that it was giving way :)
300_6093.jpg

1480154-3d1b48c7fd6ef6f2c15e3968eb9f4e1d.jpg

often times the false floor is at the top of a stope and the drop is down to the next level and another false floor so if numerous floors have collapsed the drop can be a combined depth which can be staggering sometimes.
see this picture of lenstons, there is likely a false floor at the top and bottom of the stope, so if they rot away you can see it and if they are in tact you just have to be very careful.
37383147776_697a5a516a_c.jpg
 
Last edited:

pirate

Rum Swigger
28DL Full Member
That's pretty impressive.

I'm just looking at getting into srt,was up in north Wales at the weekend saw lots but was annoyed i didn't have the skills and equipment to tackle ones such as bwlch glas etc
 

The Kwan

28DL Regular User
Regular User
The manway cages in Bwlch glas are amazing, worth the effort of learning SRT, you just missed an SRT course in wales last week, it was only a tenner too, it was run by the cambrian caving council or CCC but the course was in Wales, they have run 2 SRT corses this year. so worth keeping an eye open on their site.
 

EOA

Exploring with Bob
28DL Full Member
That's a lovely looking mine (going on my list of mines to have a poke about it) captured very nicely with a nice set of snaps :thumb
 
Top