Welsh gold

Welsh gold is highly prized because of its origin and scarcity, and occurs naturally in two distinct areas of Wales. One area is in North Wales in a band stretching from Barmouth, past Dolgellau and up towards Snowdonia. In South Wales it is found in a small area in the valley of the River Cothi at Dolaucothi where it is known to have been mined by the Romans. Jewellery such as torcs were worn by early Welsh princes, but it is not possible to confirm that this was Welsh gold since there were strong trade links between Wales and Ireland at the time and Ireland was a major producer of gold artefacts. Irish gold is especially well known from the Irish Bronze Age as jewellery, torcs, amulets, rings, bracelets and so on. It was presumably collected by panning from alluvial placers in river beds, or near old rivers.

Dolaucothi

The earliest known Welsh gold mine was the Dolaucothi Gold Mines near Pumsaint in Carmarthenshire, which possibly "opened" in the Bronze Age and closed in 1938, and was donated to the National Trust in 1941. A hoard of gold objects was found near the village of Pumsaint close to the mines in the 18th century, and is now in the British Museum.

However, Dolaucothi is best known for its exploitation on a large scale during the Roman period, from about 75 AD on to 300 AD at least. Hydraulic mining methods preceded opencast and then deep mining at the site. The many opencast workings were produced by hushing and fire-setting during the Roman period. The workings were initially under military control with a small fort under the present village of Pumsaint, and the workings have yielded large amounts of late Roman pottery (77 AD to 300 AD plus) from the reservoir known as "Melin-y-milwyr" or soldiers mill.

The Dolaucothi mine is open to the public under the aegis of the National Trust, and visitors can explore the many surface features at the site, as well as be escorted on a tour of the extensive underground workings.

North Wales

The Gwynfynydd Gold Mine in Dolgellau closed in the late 1990s. In January 2007, the BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/3681938.stm Final Welsh gold mine closing] ] and other news organisations [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_headline=swansong-for-welsh-bands-of-gold&method=full&objectid=18330311&siteid=50082-name_page.html Swansong for Welsh bands of gold] ] reported that the final traces of "economically extractable" gold had been removed from the mines and surrounding spoil. Even the local road surface had been filtered for traces, marking the end of the current mining operation. Gwynfynydd was discovered in 1860. It was active until 1998 and has produced 2,000+ troy ounces (62 kg) of Welsh gold since 1884. The mine, when open, was open to the public and provided guided tours which included the opportunity to pan for gold. The mine closed because of geological difficulties in locating a sufficiently rich lode and because of changing pollution control legislation which would have made the owners liable for the quality of the mine discharge into the River Mawddach had the mine remained open. Further research has the Gwyn-fynydd Mine, near Rhaiddor Mawddach, north of Dolgelly.

Another gold mine lies nearby, the Clogau mine. After producing copper and a little lead for quite a number of years, the mine developed into gold production in the 1862 gold rush and continued as a major operator until 1911 during which 165,031 tons of gold ore was mined resulting in 78,507 troy ounces (2,442 kg) of gold. It worked the St David's lode of Clogau mountain alongside the co-owned Vigra Mine. Since 1911 the mine has been re-opened several times for smaller scale operations. It last closed in 1998, but has been held by a local exploration company since 1999.

Occurrence

Welsh gold forms in veins or lodes of ore that yield up to 30 troy ounces per long ton (920 g/Mg). In comparison, South African gold ore yields just a quarter of a troy ounce for every tonne mined (8 g/Mg). However the South African gold fields are vastly more extensive. Welsh gold, when extracted, often has a reddish tint due to admixture with copper. During refining, the gold is purified to the more common yellow color. Once Welsh gold is purified, it is indistinguishable from other gold by the normal physical and chemical tests, and can be distinguished only by its isotopic composition.

Patronage

The royal patronage of jewellery formed out of Welsh gold still continues today. Her Majesty The Queen, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Her Highness Princess Margaret, HRH The Prince of Wales, Diana Princess of Wales and HRH Camilla The Duchess of Cornwall all wore/wear wedding rings fashioned from Welsh gold. Her Majesty The Queen was presented with a kilogram of Welsh gold on her 60th birthday (April 1986). Due to its rarity, and perhaps the royal patronage, Welsh gold is usually more expensive to buy on the high street and is often sold in diluted form (with as little as 10% of provenanced Welsh gold mixed with other gold bullion).

ee also

* Dolaucothi
* Gold mining
* Hushing
* Hydraulic mining
* Mining in Roman Britain

Notes

External links

* [http://www.wales-underground.org.uk/gold.shtml Wales Underground: "Gold"]
* [http://www.wales-calling.com/mining.htm Wales calling: "Gold Mining in Wales"]
* [http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-dolaucothigoldmines/ National Trust: "Dolaucothi Gold Mines"]
* [http://www.geologywales.co.uk/dgb/ "The Geology of the Dolgellau Gold-Belt]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20070120/ai_n17146816 The Independent: "The Last Gold Miner in Wales"]
* [http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/item10/28951 Aerial photographs of gold mines in Wales]