Worked for lead as early as the seventeenth century and later by the London Lead Company from 1820 to 1879. Subsequently, Laporte’s operated underground for Baryte from 1939 to 1963, followed by opencast methods in the 1970s and 1980s. Laporte’s constructed two aerial ropeways to transport the product to Long Marton station, with remnants of derelict pylons still visible. Veins and replacement ore bodies in the Great Limestone are prevalent here. Large crystals of Baryte have been discovered, some of which were clear enough to be faceted. These crystals exhibit both tabular and ‘chisel’ shaped forms, with a notable find in 1952 yielding complete transparent single crystals with unusual yellow/brown color zoning. Apart from Baryte, ore-bodies also contained smaller amounts of aragonite, calcite, galena, and sphalerite, with witherite reported by Bramall. Additionally, bright pyrite crystal groups can be found weathering out of the shales above the Great Limestone, adding to the mineral diversity of the site.

• 1821-1879 London Lead Company
• 1884-1890 Silverband Mining Co. Ltd
• 1914-1918 Bramall
• 1938 Silverband Syndicate
• 1939-1948 B. Laporte Ltd
• 1950-1962 Laporte Chemicals Ltd