Cornish Hush Mine
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.png) Lewin's locomotive of 1874 used at the Cornish Hush Mine, Howden Burn | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
  Cornish Hush Mine | |
| Location | Howden Burn in the Bollihope Area of Weardale in the North Pennines, County Durham, England.[1] |
| Coordinates | 54°41′57″N 1°59′49″W / 54.69912°N 1.99690°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Lead ore,[2] Calcite, Chalcopyrite, Fluorite, Galena, Pyrite and Quartz[1] |
| History | |
| Active | at least 1863–1902, 1971–1972[1] and 1979–1980[2] |
| Owner | |
| Company | London Lead Company, and since 1971 SAMUK |
The Cornish Hush Mine was a British lead ore and fluorspar mine in Weardale.
The mine was located in the Howden Burn valley in the Bollihope Area of Weardale in the North Pennines, County Durham, England.[1]
History
The mine operated from at least 1863 to 1902 to mine lead ore and from 1971 to 1972 and from 1979 to 1980 to mine fluorspar .[2][1]
Lead mining
One of the first publications about the Cornish Hush Mine described a fatal accident, in which miner John Collinson was buried underneath a large amount of rocks and lead ore falling onto him during his work and him killed immediately on 14 January 1863. A colleague named Bainbridge had worked with him about two minutes earlier and then moved about 6 foot (1.5 m) away to smoke his pipe as the stones fell onto Collinson. The stones were removed from him in a short time, but he was already dead by then.[3]
The London Lead Company leased the so-called Cornish Mine in 1867 by the dean and chapter of Durham Cathedral. It was managed by R. W. Bainbridge, whose son, Henry Bainbridge, also worked there. All the work to clean and concentrate the ore was done by machines in a water based process, which were operated by adolescents under the supervision of an adult.[4]
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On 27 July 1867, the Salmon Fishery Inspectors reported that they had visited several lead mines, where they inspected the hush, i.e. the waste water of the processing plant. There were three large tanks, each with several division into separate compartments, to clear the hush of impurities. Large sediment basins had been installed around 1863 side by side next to these tanks, through which the water flowed, set-up on the proposal of the Fisheries Commission in Darlington.[4]
The mine employed 1898, at its height, 14 men, twelve of whom worked underground and two on the surface.[2] The last agent of the Cornish Hush Mine was Joseph Anderson, and its last manager was Mr. Willis, before the London Lead Company went bankrupt in 1902.[2][5]
Fluorspar mining
Various crystals were mined as a valuable by-product of lead mining, including the decorative colored fluorspar (fluorite), for which no industrial use was known until the late 19th century. Fluorite is not a gem, but fine specimens are appreciated by collectors. The Weardale fluorspar fluoresces due to europium impurities under excitation with bluish-ultraviolet light. The characteristic fluorescence of fluorite samples from this area resulted in the term describing this phenomenon. Weardale fluorspar is considered by collectors to be one of the best and therefore most valuable in the world. In the 20th century, fluorite was increasingly used industrially for steel smelting as well as for the production of Teflon non-stick frying pans, CFCs for aerosols and other products.
The Swiss Aluminum Mining UK Ltd (SAMUK)[6] recommissioned the Cornish Hush Mine 1971–1972[1] and 1979–1980[2] with the aim to mine fluorspar in the Cornish Hush Vein and the Sharnberry Vein, but the latter was never reached.[2][1]
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