Mine contained a lot of pyrite, which might have been marketable if nearer a sea port. Lewis Morris’ account:
There is a vast Quantity of Marcasite (pyrite) in this work, and it shoots into Chrystals of Copperas by the very heat of ye Sun, but it is of very little value here being so far from the Sea. The waste of this mine is worked over and over to profit. Every eight or ten years the Marcasite being dissolved by ye Rains and Heat of the Sun Suffers the Ore to be disengaged…
Fenced off remains of whim shaft, hummocks for leaching sulphur rich ores, open cuts and hollow marking Waller’s 1705 adit.
Oldest of a series of mines often worked together with Ystum Tuen, Penrhiw, Bwlchgwyn and Llwynteifi.
| Year | Activity |
|---|---|
| 1705 | Ystum Tuen taken over by Governor and Company of Mine Adventurers under William Waller. Struggled due to remoteness. |
| 1727 | Operations cease, and mine floods. |
| 1746 | Flintshire company sinks whim shaft to intersect lode at bottom of mine. |
| 1806 | Worked by Sir Thomas Bonsall. Lack of water for pumping was a major obstacle. |
| 1824 | Deep Adit from the Rheidiol Valley started by Thomas and George Alderson, although not from lowest available point. |
| c 1824 | Aldersons become bankrupt after spending a large amoun on the deep adit. |
| 1844 | Ystum Tuen, Penrhiw and Gwaithgoch operated at the Nanteos Mines by the Taylors for a short time. |
| c1850-c1880 | Acticity centred around Aldersons Adit that had met the lode after 234 fm, 78 fm below surface. |
| 1874 | Deeper adit driven to cut the lode 118fm below surface. |
| 1900-1912 | Mined for substantial quantities of blende. |
External Links
Publications (27)
- (1848); BGS - Memoirs Vol II, Part II; 425 pages
- (1922); BGS - Mineral Resources of GB (c1920s) Vol XX - Lead and Zinc: Cardiganshire & West Montogmeryshire; 242 pages
- (1985); WMS Newsletter Issue 12 Jun; 7 pages
- (1988); WMS Newsletter Issue 18 May; 12 pages
- (1993); WMS Newsletter Issue 28 Jun; 8 pages
- (1993); WMS Newsletter Issue 29 Dec; 8 pages
- (2001); WMS Newsletter Issue 45 Dec; 14 pages
- (2004); WMS Newsletter Issue 50 Spring; 40 pages
- (2004); WMS Newsletter Issue 51 Winter; 32 pages
- Bick, D.E. (1991); Old Metal Mines of Mid-Wales, The; South of Goginan - Part 2; pp. 21-26
- Edited by D. J. Linton (2009); Welsh Mines & Mining - The Lode of History; 122 pages
- Edited by D. J. Linton (2012); Welsh Mines & Mining - Towards a Better Understanding - New Research on Old Mines; 152 pages
- Foster-Smith, J.R.; NMRS (1979); British Mining 12 - Mines of Cardiganshire, The; ISBN 0 901450 14 6; pp.61-62.
- Hall, G.W. (2014); Welsh Mines & Mining - Metal Mining in Mid Wales 1822-1921; 131 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (1971); BSA Proceedings Vol VI, No 46 - Mineral Field of Mid Wales, The; 8 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (1976); Cardiganshire - Its Mines and Miners; 52 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (1988); UK Journal of Mines & Minerals No 5 - Decline of Mining in Mid Wales and Prospects of Revival, The; 10 pages
- Hughes, Simon J.S. (2004); Brief History of the Ystumtuen Mines, A; 18 pages
- Liscombe & Co (1880); Mines of Cardiganshire, Montgomereyshire & Shropshire; 52 pages
- Murchison, J.H. (1869); Lead Mines as an Investment; 34 pages
- Nancarrow (1919); Nancarrow Cardiganshire Report; 21 pages
- NMRS; British Mining 34 - Memoirs 1987; pp.12.
- NMRS; British Mining 43 - Memoirs 1991; pp.97.
- NMRS; British Mining 90 - Memoirs 2010 - 50 Years of Mining History; pp.168.
- NMRS; Newsletter Nov/1989; pp.6-7.
- Pritchard, R.J.; NMRS (1985); British Mining 27 - Rheidiol Mines, The; ISBN 0901450 21 9; pp.5,10,25,30.
- Thorburn, J.A.; NMRS (1986); British Mining 31 - Talargoch Mine; ISBN 0901450 27 8; pp.24.
