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ColinA
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie Topic Starter

12 years ago

From the Saturday Telegraph " Irish company Minco is spending £623,000 drilling test bores in the North Pennines Ore Field in the hope of finding 20M tons of Zinc"
anybody come across any drilling rigs?
Should we offer them a few trips to foreheads in abandoned mines?
http://www.minco.ie/newsReleases/2012/MIO%20RNS%20 (Pennines)%2020121102.pdf

ColinA

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jagman
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

They shouldn't have much problem finding a fortunes worth.
The back end of Brownley Hill supposedly contains enough zinc for thirty years worth of extraction.
I can't remeber the quantites quoted but they were pretty big

The interesting bit is that they have consent to explore from the County Councils.

Hammy
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

To quote from the 'Cumberland and Westmorland Herald' Saturday 3rd November 2012 'Minco director Rowan N. Maule said "it must be emphasised that this is deep drilling and has nothing to do with the old mines in the area but looking at the strata 400 to 600 metres below. This winters drilling programme is to drill around 4200 metres"....."ultimately any minerals found could only be accessed by discreet underground mining and the entrance of such an operation could be placed many miles from the minerals"'

John Lawson
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

All interesting stuff. It clearly is possible that there is a major ore field in the Melmerby Scar limestone.
The interesting point that Colin has brought to our attention is Minco are already drilling!
One wonders where?
The last major drilling job I saw was in Gunnerside Gill, which
by comparison to the proposed Minco ones was relatively shallow.
It unfortunately lead to no major finds.
As has already been mentioned in earlier postings the only known ore reserves in the Great Limestone are centred on the Williams/barneycraig system, with possible extensions to Guddamgill and Nentsberry Veins.
As these were evaluated as being too small by Consolidated Gold fields when they undertook the new drive under Kiihope it shows how much ore must be found to make a new modern mine.

John_L
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

Most interesting bit of information - if the boys are going to drill holes up in the Pennines - wonder how the authorities gave them the necessary planning permissions to drill / develope etc.

A few years ago when the last company tried to drill "at depth". it was killed off by the planning authorities etc, well before a location was fully identified. In the meantime will keep a look out for any strange drilll rigs in the area.

jagman
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

http://www.minco.ie/projects/North%20Pennine%20Project.html

AR
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

I'd heard say that there was still a lot more to be had in the Boltsburn flats, but I don't know how true that is or whether anyone's ever tried drilling to see. Even if there was, I'm guessing you'd be looking at a new shaft/decline and a lot of pumping to get at it....

Follow the horses, Johnny my laddie, follow the horses canny lad-oh!

Alasdair Neill
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

Most of the tradtitional mineralisation in the N. Pennines is not very attractive as a modern exploration target, basically the orebodies were too small & required high levels of development.
A much more attractive target would be to look for Irish-style carbonate hosted deposits on the downthrow of a major fault system, perhaps the westerrn boundary fault. As far as I know the only real efforts looking for this type were on the Craven fault system, as described by Dunham. I suspect this would be what this company were after.

John Lawson
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

As Alistair has correctly stated under present mining conditions you either need an extremely rich 'bonanza' find or lots of mineral.
The grade of it is incidental providing there are lots.
The Tara mine at Navan illustrates the point exactly.
In the average year it's crude ore production is about the total of ore produced from the Northern Pennines in their 300 years or so of mining!
The stopes are so big, my admittedly old Oldham lamp's beam would not reach the back wall of it!
No one was allowed inside them. All mucking was carried out by radio controlled diggers/dozers.
Once the stope was empty waste was mixed with cement and area carefully back - filled.
This is the sort of prize Minco are looking for.

ebgb
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#10

"AR" wrote:
I'd heard say that there was still a lot more to be had in the Boltsburn flats, but I don't know how true that is or whether anyone's ever tried drilling to see.

they did drill years ago, the flats were still going strong a few of hundred metres beyond the forehead where they left off apparently.

if they were to go deep, under the great limestone, would that not also mean they would have to think about any abandoned and importantly flooded workings that may be above them. Potentially a very big lump of water waiting for a crack/fissure/fault to flood down into whatever is underneath?

I suppose if whatever is underneath is vast enough the amount of water that could come in in a hurry might not be that disastrous, unless you're right underneath it at the time

http://bf494.co.uk

Ty Gwyn
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#11

"ebgb" wrote:

I suppose if whatever is underneath is vast enough the amount of water that could come in in a hurry might not be that disastrous, unless you're right underneath it at the time

Since the Gleision episode last year, HMIM have tightened up on these scenarios.

PeteJ
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#12

I assume that if Minco were mining in the Melmerby Scar Lmst, they would close access to old workings above. Better get on with recording what is left in certain mines before it is too late.

Pete Jackson
Frosterley
01388527532

TimH
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#13

There's a drilling rig near the Nenthead - Coalcleugh road. Some of the crew have been spotted in the outdoor shop in Alston stocking up on gloves & wooly socks - perhaps the Nenthead micro-climate comes as a shock!

Rowan Maule, a director of Minco plc has been invited to meet Nenthead residents at Nenthead Ward Meeting on 26th November to give a presentation on his company's activities here, and to answer questions. 7.30 pm in Nenthead Village Hall.

rodel
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#14

I first heard of the proposal by Minco from a local source some months ago and dismissed it with a "heard it all before" attitude,although the area mentioned at the time was around Killhope Cross where the 3 Northern counties meet so this rig is pretty much on the button. The same source has also told me that talks have taken place with landowners etc to the South West of the Nenthead to Alston road in the Nentsberry area. This could all be hearsay of course but the folk up there have a canny knack of knowing what's cooking in their own back yard !

John_L
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#15

Well spotted Tim, the rig is currently at location NY794441 (beside the 593 spot height), all set up and ready to drill by the looks of things(09-Nov-2012).

I have added a few pictures to Flickr of the rig (Nenthead Drill Rig), I tried to load here - but failed.

exspelio
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#16

Always remember, nature is in charge, get it wrong and it is you who suffers!.

ebgb
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#17

interesting... but can't see them drilling a 500 metre hole with that wee fella.

http://bf494.co.uk

exspelio
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#18

"ebgb" wrote:
interesting... but can't see them drilling a 500 metre hole with that wee fella.

I tend to agree, 1.5 years at least ??.

Always remember, nature is in charge, get it wrong and it is you who suffers!.

Minegeo
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#19

Spec of that rig is good for NQ core to 900m at around 35m per shift. So 10 to 12 days for a 500m hole would be expected especially in soft limestones and shales.

John Lawson
50.2% (Neutral)
Newbie

12 years ago

#20

Judging where the rig is situated it cannot be far from Rampgill shaft, which according to Dunham:V.M. said the Vein split up and did not contain any worth while mineral. However they did not go down as far as the Melmerby Scar limestone, which clearly Minco based on their Irish results would seem to be host rock for this Lead/Zinc mineralisation.
Presumably the drill must be sited on Ramgill or Barneycraig Veins, and must raise the probability, as mentioned in a previous posting, that if economic deposits are discovered in the MSL, all the remaining GL reserves will be removed as well.