Wheal Gorland
{{Short description|Former metalliferous mine in Cornwall, England}}
{{use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox mine
| name = Wheal Gorland
| image = Liroconite-76634.jpg
| width =
| caption = Liroconite from Wheal Gorland, its type locality
| pushpin_map = Cornwall
| pushpin_label = Wheal Gorland
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Cornwall
| coordinates = {{coord|50.2417|N|5.1839|W|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| place = St Day
| subdivision_type = County
| state/province = Cornwall
| country = England
| owner =
| official website =
| acquisition year =
| stock_exchange =
| stock_code =
| products = Copper, tin, arsenic and tungsten
| financial year =
| amount =
| opening year = 1792, 1906
| closing year = 1864, 1909
}}
Wheal Gorland was a metalliferous mine located just to the north-east of the village of St Day, Cornwall, in England, United Kingdom. It was one of the most important Cornish mines of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, both for the quantity of ore it produced and for the wide variety of uncommon secondary copper minerals found there as a result of supergene enrichment.{{cite web
|url=http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/geomincentre/excur-gwennap.htm
|title=Camborne School of Mines Virtual Museum - The Cornubian Orefield
|publisher=University of Exeter
|access-date=2009-06-20}} It is the type locality for the minerals chenevixite, clinoclase, cornwallite, kernowite{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-55396421|work=BBC News|title=Kernowite: New green mineral discovered in 220-year-old rock|date=23 December 2020|access-date=23 December 2020}} and liroconite.{{cite web
|url=http://www.mindat.org/loc-939.html
|title=Wheal Gorland, St Day United Mines (Poldice Mines), Gwennap area, Camborne - Redruth - St Day District, Cornwall, England, UK
|publisher=mindat.org
|access-date=2009-06-20}}
History
The production of the mine was very inconsistent because of the sporadic distribution of its rich ore-bodies: in 1833 George Abbot wrotein: An Essay on the Mines of England: Their Importance as a Source of National Wealth that it had made profits of over £300,000, produced 1,400 tons of ore per annum, and ranked third, in terms of profits,in a table entitled: Mines which have been continuously productive, and are still working profitably just behind Dolcoath mine and Consolidated Mines. However, in 1865 Thomas Spargo wroteon page 54 of: [https://archive.org/details/minescornwallan00spargoog The Mines of Cornwall and Devon: Statistics and Observations] (online at Google Books) "now part of St. Day United; idle".{{cite web
|url=http://www.cornwallinfocus.co.uk/history/gorland.php
|title=The Mines of Gwennap - Wheal Gorland
|publisher=Cornwall in Focus
|access-date=2009-06-20}}
In the early 1790s Wheal Gorland was connected to the Great County Adit and its own existing shallow adits were adapted to drain into this deeper adit.{{cite book
| last = Buckley
| first = J A
| title = The Great County Adit
| publisher = Penhellick Publications
| location = Pool, Camborne, Cornwall
| year = 2000
| pages=55–56
| isbn = 1-871678-51-X}} Records show that between 1815 and 1851 the mine produced 40,750 tons of 7½% copper ore, 15 tons of black tin, and 18 tons of arsenic. Much fluorspar was also produced, and gold was reputedly found in the gossan. Records from 1836 show 86 people working at the mine, 53 men, 12 women and 21 children.{{cite journal |last1=Lemon |first1=Charles |title=The Statistics of the Copper Mines of Cornwall |journal=Journal of the Statistical Society of London |date=1838 |volume=1 |issue=2 (June 1838) |page=78 (Table XVI)}} In 1852 the mine was taken over by the St. Day United Group of mines and it became the main site for maintenance of the Great County Adit, but by 1864 it had been abandoned.
The mine was reopened in 1906 when Edgar Allen and Company reworked the stopes and the dumps for tin and tungsten ores. It sold 164 tons of tungsten ore and 18 tons of black tin before closing, for the last time, in 1909.{{cite book
| last = Dines
| first = H. G.
| title = The Metalliferous Mining Region of South-West England. Volume I
| publisher = HMSO
| year = 1956
| location = London
| page = 408}}
Since 1988 the site has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of the variety and quality of lead and copper minerals that have been found in the mine dumps.{{cite web|title=Wheal Gorland|url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1003565.pdf|publisher=Natural England|date=24 June 1988|access-date=29 October 2011}} A condition summary compiled on 21 July 2010 reported that the site was in an ″unfavourable declining condition″ because growth of scrubland vegetation was encroaching on to the waste dumps and hindering future excavations in search of minerals for scientific study. The summary further states that the vegetation on the remaining mine dump may also be affecting the minerals themselves, as formation of new soil horizons could affect chemical processes within the dump.{{cite web|title=SSSI unit information|url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/special/sssi/unit_details.cfm?situnt_id=1003853|publisher=Natural England|access-date=29 October 2011}}
Mineral Statistics
From Robert Hunt's Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom{{Cite book |last1=Burt |first1=Roger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZEpmwEACAAJ |title=Mining in Cornwall and Devon: Mines and Men |last2=Burnley |first2=Ray |last3=Gill |first3=Michael |last4=Neill |first4=Alasdair |date=2014 |publisher=University of Exeter Press |isbn=978-0-85989-889-8 |language=en}}.
| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Copper Production (from ticketing records; 1801-1853) !Year(s) !Ore (Tons) !Metal (Tons) !Value (£) !Comment |
| 1801
|435.00 |39.80 |3782.75 |Cu est., 6 months only |
| 1802
|639.00 |63.63 |5411.25 |Cu est., c 6 months only |
| 1803
|881.00 |80.54 |8119.83 |Cu est., c 8 months only |
| 1804
|1536.00 |123.62 |13531.88 |Cu est |
| 1805
|2242.00 |164.81 |22443.80 |Cu est |
| 1806
|2293.00 |169.95 |16495.40 |.. |
| 1807
|2016.00 |159.50 |13857.63 |Cu partly est |
| 1808
|1640.00 |151.12 |10515.98 |Cu est |
| 1809
|1198.00 |78.01 |8185.58 |Cu est |
| 1810
|1395.00 |87.11 |7822.83 |.. |
| 1811
|1485.00 |82.94 |6411.23 |.. |
| 1812
|1438.00 |81.65 |5695.58 |.. |
| 1813
|1102.00 |76.65 |6384.83 |.. |
| 1814
|1937.00 |86.01 |7007.60 |.. |
| 1815
|1394.00 |102.06 |8221.45 |Fluorspar sold at copper ticketings not included |
| 1816
|1177.00 |85.74 |5402.05 |Fluorspar sold at copper ticketings not included |
| 1817
|1077.00 |84.08 |6479.90 |Fluorspar sold at copper ticketings not included |
| 1818
|1491.00 |110.75 |11288.85 |Fluorspar sold at copper ticketings not included |
| 1819
|1611.00 |124.13 |11427.40 |.. |
| 1820
|1568.00 |138.90 |11363.73 |.. |
| 1821
|1203.00 |105.46 |7806.60 |.. |
| 1822
|1412.00 |144.91 |11229.63 |.. |
| 1823
|1386.00 |127.34 |10432.48 |.. |
| 1824
|1769.00 |150.96 |12604.23 |.. |
| 1825
|2180.00 |155.20 |15059.80 |.. |
| 1826
|2986.00 |241.83 |17943.00 |Fluorspar not included |
| 1827
|2847.00 |214.52 |16455.73 |Fluorspar not included |
| 1828
|2885.00 |201.80 |15606.30 |Fluorspar not included |
| 1829
|2190.00 |161.47 |11974.30 |Fluorspar not included |
| 1830
|2099.00 |164.05 |11507.73 |Fluorspar not included |
| 1831
|1158.00 |100.69 |6966.85 |Fluorspar not included |
| 1832
|1238.00 |108.70 |8163.05 |.. |
| 1833
|1771.00 |107.01 |8357.83 |.. |
| 1834
|953.00 |75.93 |5913.60 |.. |
| 1835
|796.00 |70.53 |5369.18 |.. |
| 1836
|684.00 |61.80 |5949.95 |.. |
| 1837
|576.00 |50.94 |3785.08 |.. |
| 1838
|477.00 |42.59 |3362.03 |.. |
| 1839
|503.00 |45.96 |3414.15 |.. |
| 1840
|457.00 |42.74 |3510.75 |.. |
| 1841
|354.00 |30.56 |2739.83 |.. |
| 1842
|598.00 |43.30 |3268.35 |.. |
| 1843
|581.00 |39.70 |2833.40 |.. |
| 1844
|444.00 |32.21 |2288.20 |.. |
| 1845
|366.00 |23.11 |1652.43 |.. |
| 1846
|144.00 |9.96 |676.98 |.. |
| 1851
|93.00 |8.19 |571.85 |From Mineral Statistics |
| 1852
|27.00 |1.90 |160.40 |From Alfred Jenkin's tables |
| 1853
|8.00 |0.42 |46.80 |.. |
| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Tin Production (1888-1919) !Year(s) !Black (Tons) !Stuff (Tons) !Value (£) |
| 1888
|no-details |.. |.. |
| 1889
|13.00 |308.00 |660.00 |
| 1890
|.. |439.00 |624.00 |
| 1891
|.. |167.00 |200.00 |
| 1892
|.. |60.00 |52.00 |
| 1893
|no-details |.. |.. |
| 1898
|.. |154.00 |66.00 |
| 1899
|.. |25.00 |70.00 |
| 1900
|.. |14.00 |13.00 |
| 1908
|5.90 |.. |406.00 |
| 1909
|11.90 |.. |851.00 |
| 1910
|13.00 |.. |1,430.00 |
| 1911
|3.00 |.. |327.00 |
| 1917
|0.25 |.. |64.00 |
| 1918
|0.45 |.. |84.00 |
| 1919
|no-details |.. |.. |
| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Arsenic Production (1874-1919) !Year(s) !Ore (Tons) !Value (£) |
| 1874
|5.30 |5.00 |
| 1876
|12.30 |52.00 |
| 1893
|no-details |.. |
| 1906
|4.00 |22.00 |
| 1907
|17.00 |353.00 |
| 1908
|24.00 |197.00 |
| 1909
|56.60 |497.00 |
| 1910
|15.00 |90.00 |
| 1911
|16.00 |84.00 |
| 1918
|no detailed return |.. |
| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Tungsten Production (1899-1918) !Year(s) !Ore (Tons) !Value (£) |
| 1899
|20.50 |6.00 |
| 1906
|26.70 |2,025.00 |
| 1907
|29.40 |3,620.00 |
| 1908
|36.80 |2,334.00 |
| 1909
|70.50 |6,051.00 |
| 1910
|34.00 |2,924.00 |
| 1911
|11.00 |1,158.00 |
| 1917
|0.60 |109.00 |
| 1918
|0.25 |25.00 |
| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Employment (1888-1918) !Year(s) !Total !Overground !Underground |
| 1888
|7 |.. |7 |
| 1889
|16 |1 |15 |
| 1890
|14 |1 |13 |
| 1891
|6 |1 |5 |
| 1892
|3 |1 |2 |
| 1898-1899
|2 |.. |2 |
| 1900
|1 |.. |1 |
| 1905
|24 |20 |4 |
| 1906
|54 |37 |17 |
| 1907
|80 |51 |29 |
| 1908
|88 |59 |29 |
| 1909
|99 |54 |45 |
| 1910
|66 |39 |27 |
| 1911-1912
|61 |36 |25 |
| 1916
|2 |.. |2 |
| 1917
|2 |.. |2 |
| 1918
|2 |.. |2 |
See also
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
References
{{Commons category|Minerals of Wheal Gorland}}
{{Reflist}}
{{SSSIs Cornwall geological|state=collapsed}}
Category:Tin mines in Cornwall
Category:Copper mines in Cornwall
Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall
Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1988