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More mines and new jewellery

You may remember that I visited Alderley Edge copper mines back in April and this may have sparked a small obsession! Last week my husband and I visited Great Orme Mine in Llandudno. This mine dates to the Bronze Age, around 4000 years old! :O

Uncovered in 1987 during a scheme to landscape an area of the Great Orme, the copper mines discovered represent one of the most astounding archaeological discoveries of recent times. Dating back to the Bronze Age they changed our views about the ancient people of Britain and their civilized and structured society 2,000 years before the Roman invasion.

Over the past 28 years mining engineers, cavers and archaeologists have been slowly uncovering more tunnels and large areas of the surface landscape to reveal what is now thought to be the largest prehistoric mine, so far discovered in the world.

Unlike Alderley Edge, which is mainly sandstone, the Great Orme is limestone and was formed 350 million years ago. Copper was deposited in this region as copper sulphides (chalcopyrite). Over millions of years the copper made its way to the surface due to erosion and uplift. Subsequent weathering and water changed the copper sulphides into green and blue copper carbonates (malachite and azurite) as seen in this sample.

These would have been visible on the surface at the Great Orme which would make it easier for the Bronze Age miners to extract it with simple tools like bone antlers. Yes, bone antlers! They didn’t have metal tools back then to extract the ore, they had only just started using metal and copper was too soft for using as tools.

Our first industrial revolution

For those of you that don’t know bronze is an alloy (combination) of copper and tin. Tin was predominantly found in Cornwall. Remember those shirtless shots of Aiden Turner as Poldark? Who doesn’t! His mine was a tin mine and thousands of years before the 18th-century tin was exported over the world to be combined with copper to make a much harder and more durable metal called Bronze.

Where the technology to make bronze first appear?

In Southwest Asia around 5000 years ago and then spread to central Europe. Back then today’s continents were joined up into bigger land masses, so it made it easier for the spread of peoples and therefore technology. The process made it to Britain (as it was then) around 2200 BCE (4200 years ago) and this was probably due to discovering tin in Cornwall which was scarce elsewhere in Europe.

How did they get the copper out?

With stone tools like antlers shaped to scrape the limestone away until they found the blue/green copper ore. In some cases when the limestone was too hard, they lit fires to create cracks in the stone and make it easier to extract. Once extracted they divided up the copper ore and waste into piles and back filled any empty/used passage with the waste.

It was seen as a waste of time (pun intended!) to carry useless stone to the surface. The ore was carried up and then smashed by hand using heavy hammer stones (over 2500 have been discovered) that the miners would have carefully selected from the beaches. The crushed ore was melted at 1100 degrees centigrade using bellows and voila – copper! A great video at the mine shows these and the next steps to making bronze. I’d love to have a go at smelting!

Visiting the mine

But that’s all from me as I don’t want to bore you with all the stages of copper extraction – you should go and see the Mine for yourself! When we went last week, it was quiet and only 4 of us were in there. It really added to the atmosphere! It can feel quite claustrophobic at spots, but no crawling is required! It was only £9 each to get in and the staff were really friendly. There’s a small introductory video and then it’s a self-guided tour for approx. 30-45 minutes underground with a few steps down and up again. We loved it and would happily go back. I hear they do live smelting demonstrations so I’m keeping my eyes peeled for those!

New jewellery!

I recently made some fabulous stone set copper rings inspired by my trip to the mines using a malachite stone. Remember copper sulphides contain green and blue copper carbonates (malachite and azurite)?

What do you think? Would you like to see these in my shop? Message me to let me know!

Why not pop over to the Great Orme website now for more info on this fascinating tourist attraction in Wales and plan your next exciting trip underground!

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