GOLD RUSH

Just over a century ago Britain was the world leading producer of metals with the 19th century seeing the peak of metal and slate mining in Wales. Welsh Gold found along the Dolgellau Gold belt is said to be three times more valuable than the South African or Australian variety but, unlike South African gold, Welsh gold could be easily extracted from the rock as it formed in seams, similar to coal.

Welsh gold has also been known to yield up to 30 ounces per ton, a much larger concentration than South Africa’s quarter of an ounce per ton.

Officially the Dolgellau gold belt has produced around 40 tons of gold and for several generations royal wedding rings have been made from it.

EuraidTransportation of the ore was one obstacle that the mines in remote areas faced, resulting in the construction of railways, parts of which are still to be found in the Bontddu hills.

Unfortunatly for the British metal industry large deposits of lead and copper were discovered in South America, Spain and Australia. This resulted in it becoming cheaper to import these metals than to produce them domestically and so, by the end of the late 19th century, the metal mining industry in the uk was just about dead leaving behind a great history and many hidden artifacts.

The images that follow aim to provide a sense of place around the areas these mines operated and highlite a once prosperous industry of which only rusted and abandoned objects remain.

Euraid: Welsh translation, meaning Gold. (adj.)

Dolgellau Town, North Wales.

Dolgellau Town, North Wales.

Ruins, Bonduu Hills.

Trees, Bonduu Hills.

Fenced off shaft, Bonduu Hills.

Landscape, Bonduu.

Quartz with example of seams, Bonduu Hills.

Landscape, Bonduu.

Abandoned Tracks 1, Bonduu.

Abandoned Tracks 2, Bonduu.

Hidden truck, Bonduu.

Abandoned Tracks 3, Bonduu.

Old Ore crushing Site, Bonduu.

Old Ore crushing Site, Interior 1, Bonduu.

Old Ore crushing Site, Interior 2, Bonduu.

Panoramic, Bonduu Hills.

The mining process can best be illustrated by visiting Sygun copper mine, located in Bedgelert, just south of Mount Snowdon, an area where the rock is said to date back some 500 million years.

It was between 1825 and 1830 that the mine sold a total of 476 tonnes of ore concentrate at Swansea but it finally became dormant in 1903, re-opening for public access in 1986. The mine now acts as a great example of min-ing conditions in the late 18th and 19th century.

Like many other mines Sygun operated using a system of shafts or tunnels that were driven into the side of the mountainside thus insuring that the ore vein could be accesed at a number of different levels.

Water wheels were often used to power winding devices that brought the ore up the shafts for transport- ation along tram tracks. These tracks ran along the levels and lead to the surface where the ore was broken into fine pieces by the processing machinery, consisting of stamps or crushers that would break down the ore into managble amounts.

This crushed ore was then placed on a sieve in water, known as a jigging table, so that the dense valuable ore sank to the bottom and the light waste product remained at the top. The valuable ore was retrieved and transpor ted to Swansea or Liverpool for refining while the waste product was disposed of ino the river.

It is still possible to find traces of gold in the river bed and some enthusiasts spend some time panning for gold around the area.

The following images act as further support for documenting the once prosperus act of metaliferous mining in Wales but also illustrate the conditions in which the miners worked.

Sygun Copper Mine

Water Wheel, Sygun Copper Mine.

View from exit shaft, Sygun Copper Mine.

Mine entrance.

Tram Tracks and Truck Wheel.

Ore Transport Trucks

Tram Tracks

Main Mine Entrance

Tunnels 1

Tunnels 2

Tunnels 3

Tunnels 3

Tunnels 4

Exit