Carrock Mine Carrock
Fell, Caldbeck Fells, Cumbria. OS Ref: NY323330.
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withdrawn, while at the same time the market was swamped with stocks of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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COMRU Exercise
- Practicing hauling with z-rigs, bolting and drilling.
(COMRU Team), 17th
June 2007. |
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