Does anyone know anything about the 1930's gold prospect on Moel Siabod. This is referred to in FJ North's Mining for Metals in Wales. The Times referred to registration of North Wales Gold Ltd. in 1936 & a court case in 1938, which although not giving a location is almost certainly the same project. Gold had been known on Siabod before then, being referred to in the Mining Journal in the 1880's.

Sometime about 1960 my parents were directed to the site of workings stated to have been made by this company by the late Capt. Livingston-Learmonth of Tanyrallt, Tremadoc. Unfortunately they never noted the exact location, apart from it was on the Dolwyddelan side of the mountain. The fact that the mineralisation was reputed to lie in volcanic ash would perhaps narrow the location down, but if anyone does know an exact location I would love to hear.
Havn't managed to track down the source FJ North quoted, can anyone get a copy of that?.

The late Capt. Livingston-Learmonth was a member of the Greaves family (Llechwedd Slate Quarry). IIRC he was at one time MD of the company.

The only information I have is that the North Wales Gold Ltd was incorporated 1936, last year 1947 (Public Record Office: Board of Trade: Companies Registration Office: Files of Dissolved Companies BT 31/35692/318821)

Dave

I know of an adit on the Dolwyddelan side of the mountain. I have not been in it though, and don't know what was being mined there.

It is quite close to a track and is fenced in the usual FC fashion.

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Other workings on that side of Dolwyddelan include the Moel Siabod honestone quarry (which I havn't been to but where the 1:25000 geological map shows adits, and further south the Cwm Fynhadog lead mine. There was also reputed to be exploration drilling somewhere in the area during the mid 1970's; I remember as a young lad being taken somewhere in search of this in apalling weather but never finding anything. That was at a time when there was apparently a lot of prospecting going on which at that time did not seem to need planning permission. This was at the time of the potentially huge Riofinex Coed-y-Brenin copper discovery (wonder if with metal prices what they are now interest in that might be revived, although the chances of opening a big open pit mine in the National Park are probably remote).

What are the rules on prospecting for precious metals then? Let's say for example i wanted to go panning for gold in a stream?

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In theory you need a licence to pan for gold.

Ah, ok thanks. Not that I am intending to go panning anytime soon. 😉

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I wonder if this equates to the Moel Fleiddiau mine (mentioned in Bick, 1985) up in the hills between the top of the Crimea Pass & Moel Siabod? The mine explored a lode hosted by dolerite, consisting of quartz with early arsenopyrite + minor pyrite, brecciated and cemented by abundant sphalerite with chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite inclusions. Like most mines in the district (the Snowdon Caldera orefield), the veinstuff is likely to be auriferous, but not to an especially interesting level. BGS looked at the area and took grab-samples from the tips of the various mines but assays topped-out at under 2g/t Au, with most well below that again. The arsenopyrite-rich mineralisation appears to form an outer, deeper zone around the south, west & north-west of the copper-rich "inside" of the Caldera - similar mineralisation occurs at e.g. Catherine & Jane, Cwm Bychan, Cwm Cipwrth, Moel Hebog, Drws-y-Coed, Llanberis, Ceunant etc.

Cheers - John

don't think so, the descriptions (although possibly very dubious) state the mineralisation was in a "volcanic ash". Don't have geological maps to hand, but I seem to recal Moel Fleiddiau (Cwm Fynhadog Mine) was in slates/sandstones with basic intrusions. My mum seems to think the location they were sent to was fairly high up on Siabod.

John, In your posting you mention Ceunant, I live in Ceunant but I do not know of any workings here, have you any more info please.
Cheers Phil

Phil,

Ceunant, SH 633 645, Bick 1985 p. 91

There were arsenic-sublimation flues on-site but I've not been there for years. Several other workings in the hills around Bethesda feature common arsenopyrite too.

Cheers - John

This link is the BGS on-line Geological Survey

http://maps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyviewer_google/googleviewer.html 

If you zoom in far enough, you get the 1:50000 scale, which ought to allow you to narrow down the area of interest.

Chris.

Thanks for the information lads. :thumbsup: