Herb Riddle's photos with the keyword: Parys_Mountain

A twin to the main view posted yesterday. A different direction with some green too. See previous photo for full description. Enjoy full screen

Looking like a scene from Tolkiens Lord of the Rings (Mount Doom), one could hardly imagine colours to paint a scene like this. The result of both natural ores near the surface and man’s ability to wreak havoc with nature. Love or hate it, you have to confess it looks impressive. “Parys Mountain is located south of the town of Amlwch in north east Anglesey, Wales. It is the site of a large copper mine that was extensively exploited in the late 18th century. Parys Mountain (Mynydd Parys) is a mountain in name only, being a hill with an elevation of barely 150m. It was mined for copper ore in the early Bronze Age, as shown by sub-surface debris nearly 4,000 years old revealed during excavations in 2002. Parys Mountain is one of the few sites in Britain where there is evidence for the prehistoric beginnings of the British metal mining industry. The 18th century miners recognised that they were following in the steps of much earlier workers, an observation that was then linked to the discovery locally of copper ingots bearing Roman inscriptions. In 1764 Charles Roe of Macclesfield was granted a 21-year lease to work the mountain for copper. Rowland Pugh, a local miner, discovered the "Great Lode" on 2 March 1768. Although the ore here was of low quality, this was more than compensated for by the fact that it occurred in two large masses close to the surface. Initially ore was worked on the surface from shallow shafts, next by open-pit mining and finally underground from adits or from shafts. The ore was broken into small lumps by hand, the best ore being shipped to Lancashire or to the Lower Swansea valley in South Wales through the port of Swansea for smelting. Copper was concentrated and extracted from the remainder using kilns and furnaces on site. It was also discovered that purer metal could be obtained efficiently, although in small amounts, by its precipitation from drainage water with scrap iron in purpose-built ponds Parys Mountain dominated the world's copper market during the 1780s, when the mine was the largest in Europe. Its rise severely damaged the mining industry in Cornwall. The copper from the mine was used to sheath the British Admiralty's wooden ships of war. Since 1988, Anglesey Mining plc, which owns the western part of the mountain has discovered resources of 6,500,000 tonnes containing 10% combined zinc, lead, copper with some silver and gold and has permits and a plan to restart mining operations at 350,000 tonnes per year. Due to the high level of soil contamination, plant life is sparse on or near the mountain, but there are a number of examples of rare plants and bacteria. The bare, heavily mined landscape give the mountain a strange appearance which has been used in the filming of science fiction films and television shows such as a scene in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.” WiKi Enjoy full size as usual.