New Mexico Mineral Symposium — Abstracts

In a current (Fall 1994) Visitor's Guide to Scotland and/or Wales, WHERE TO GO & WHAT TO SEE is listed: "Discover Scotland's highest village, Wanlockhead (higher than any community in the Highlands further north) and also the Scottish Museum of Lead Mining on the breezy slopes nearby." About 200 miles away as the crow flies is the Mining Museum described in the Welch Visitors Guide as the 'California of Wales' exhibition at the Llywernog Mine Historical Site. Both the mining districts and the museums are similar, fantastic, and accessible, plus one sees parts of Scotland and Wales at the same time.

LOCATION—The Leadhills-Wanlockhead mining district is south of Glasgow or Prestwick (nearby airports). It is midway between the A-74 (Carlisle, England to Glasgow, Scotland via Lockerbie to Crawford, then to the southwest) and the road connecting to the A-76 (Prestwick-Dumfries Road). The district is about 45 miles from Glasgow and 30 miles from Prestwick. The Mining Museum is open during the summer, and one needs to call in advance to determine the hours.

The Llywernog Mine Historical Site, in the beautiful Snowdonia mining district, is reached by taking the A-44 east from the coastal town of Aberystwyth via Devils Bridge to Ponterwyd. On a large visitor's map of Wales, Aberystwyth is northwest of Cardiff, which is on the main route from London. The historical site is open daily, Easter to end of September from 10 am to 6 pm. The entire district comprises more than 40 mines within a 50-mile radius. Visitors should purchase A Glimpse of the Past, a tourist's guide to industrial trails, slate quarries, mines, mills, railroads, etc., from the Wales Tourist Board. This will give you all the information.

HISTORY—Both the Leadhills-Wanlockhead district of south-central Scotland (reported in Mineralogical Record, July-August 1981) and the Llywernog Mine Historical Site, Wales (reported in Lapidary Journal, July 1984) were mined for lead, zinc, gold, and silver. The gold at Wanlockhead was recovered from the alluvial gravels during the 1500s, and as many as 300 employees were used during peak production days. The gold from the district was used in both royal crowns and in coinage. The silver content was minor but recoverable.

However, at the Snowdonia district the silver content of the lead was high enough to be not only recoverable but profitable. The nearby Dolgelley gold district produced gold from veins, even in this century, for including in the royal jewelry.

Documented records at the Llywernog Mine Historical Site reveal extensive mining activity from 1740 to 1914. The nearby Cwmystwyth mine was worked intermittently from 1400 to 1939.

The mines in the Leadhills-Wanlockhead district included some 70 veins in an 8-km2 area and were in operation as early as 1293 A.D. and intermittently to 1934. The lead miners founded a Reading Society in 1756. The present library, erected in 1850, has 3,000 books from the 17th century to present as well as the original minute books and records of the Society.

GEOLOGY—At both the Leadhills-Wanlockhead and the Snowdonia districts, the country rock is a series of greywackes, mudstones, shales, and cherts of Ordovician age. The mineralized part of the veins is confined to the greywackes and mudstones.

MINERALS—At the Leadhills-Wanlockhead district more than 60 mineral species have been identified. These include: cerussite, anglesite, leadhillite, susannite, lanarkite, caledonite, linarite, and pyromorphite. Earlier, specimens of exceptional quality came from the Susanna and Belton Grain veins. In 1920 operations began on the New Glencrieff vein. This was one of the richest orebodies in the district. At the south end of the vein the top levels were very rich in galena with stringers running for more than 80 meters. At the 300-ft level large quantities of hemimorphite were found. At the 700-ft level enormous quantities of sphalerite were found. The New Glencrieff vein was favored with a deep oxidized zone that extended to a depth of 2,000 ft.

It is reported that the minerals of the Leadhills-Wanlockhead district became so well known to collectors during the 1820s that the Scots Mining Company "had to make a regulation preventing the miners from disposing of specimens to the growing number of collectors!"

From the mines in Wales come at least 24 minerals, and all are to be found at all locations. These include: ankerite, sphalerite (large crystals to 3 inches in size), galena with a high silver content in 11/2-inch cubes, copper minerals with malachite being of the soft velvety style among razor-sharp chalcopyrite crystals, devilline, bindheimite, wulfenite, and gold to name a few. The veins are usually wide and deep. At the Van mine one vein of ore was more than 60 feet wide and 2 miles long.

Along with the minerals to be found are numerous opportunities for picture taking of old mine buildings including one, a building that housed a 56-ft diameter waterwheel.

MINING—There are no active mines in mid-Wales (Snowdonia) at this time, and in the Leadhills-Wanlockhead district only the New Glencrieff vein is being worked on a noncommercial basis.