Wolfram mining
in Cumbria was only carried out on one site, Carrock Mine, situated in
Grainsgill, a tributary of the River Caldew. Carrock was the only locality
outside of Cornwall and Devon to have produced wolfram. Along with
Castle-an-Dinas Mine, near St Austell in Cornwall, it was the only mine in the
country where wolfram was the sole ore produced. Wolfram and scheelite are the
chief ores of tungsten. The mine has worked spasmodically since 1854, but never
for very long, as mining is only viable when the price of tungsten is at its
peak. The last period of working finished in October 1981. The mine is situated
in the steep sided valley of the Grainsgill Beck.
The three principal
veins, going from west to east, are the Smith Vein, the Harding Vein, and the
Emerson Vein. These cross the beck at approximately 90 degrees, rendering the
mine easily worked by a series of adit levels driven north and south into the
valley sides. Ore from upper workings was scraped and tipped down a series of
internal ore-passes into hoppers on the main adit level, and then run into tubs
and hauled out of the mine to the mill. The country rock is competent and the
majority of the stopes and levels are self-supporting. Only small quantities of
timber were required where the levels pass through the overlying boulder clay.
The first major period of activity followed the formation of the
Carrock Mining Syndicate in 1913. The work was partly government financed and
almost 14,000 tons of ore were mined. With the end of the First World War
government support was withdrawn, while at the same time the market was swamped
with stocks of tungsten concentrates as governments off-loaded their strategic
stock piles. By late 1918 the underground workings were closed down. Interest
in the mine returned again during both World War Two and the Korean War when
supplies of tungsten were threatened, but despite exploratory work no ore was
produced.
After a number of changes of ownership the mine reopened in
April 1977 and produced around 16,000 tonnes per annum until closure in October
1981. The price of wolfram concentrates had fallen again. The mine was put into
mothballs on a care and maintenance basis. Following the abandonment of the
lease in 1988 the mill and associated buildings were cleared completely, and
the site, along with the tailings lagoon, was bulldozed and graded back to a
close approximation of the original contours. The only remains of buildings
left on the site are those on the south side of Grainsgill Beck, the concrete
bases of hoppers constructed in 1913 by the Carrock Mining
Syndicate.
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Carrock
Surface Features
Surface features around the Carrock Mine site.
(COMRU Team), 17th June 2007. |
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COMRU
Exercise
Practicing hauling with z-rigs, bolting and drilling.
(COMRU Team), 17th June 2007. |
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