 CONSERVATION OF
WALES' MINERAL HERITAGE
Note:
to return to the Conservation page click on EXIT
at the bottom of any of these pages.
The following pages give
some examples of the mineral sites of Wales and
the reason for their importance.
As a result of the Minescan project, there now
exists a comprehensive network of mineral sites
which represent all aspects of mineral deposit
formation ("metallogenesis") in Wales.
The original aim of Minescan was to look at
Wales' disused metal mines and trials: the
project rapidly expanded to cover other mineral
sites such as road cuttings, quarries and natural
exposures.
In addition, a major Wales-wide sample suite was
collected during Minescan and is being curated at
the National Museum in Cardiff. This represents a
massive "metallogenesis archive"
involving thousands of hand specimens and
polished sections, and is available for study by
arrangement. Please contact Dr Jana Horak at the
Department of Geology, National Museums and
Galleries of Wales, Cathays Park, Cardiff for
advice.
Please follow the links below to have a browse
through our diverse mineral heritage. Note that I
have only had time to include a selection and
that there are many excellent sites not covered
yet!
MINES
ROAD
CUTTINGS AND QUARRIES
NATURAL
EXPOSURES
R: View of part of the old
copper-mine at Great Orme, Llandudno, where a
mining museum has been developed, much excavation
done and an underground tour made available. The
mine is of primary importance for its archaeology
(a proven Bronze-age copper working), its
geology, its metallogenesis
("copper-dolomite association") and its
mineralogy - one of Wales' most important
minesites!
A website covering current visitor sites in Wales
for the mining enthusiast, archaeologist or
mineralogist, is at: http://www.wales-underground.org.uk
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