mined during the 40s and 50s for fluorite (remember it well) had lines into the mine, trucked out fluorite which was loaded by hand into small lorries and taken to various places in derbyshire for processing.
has been sealed up for some years but maybe still accessable over the "rock door" it worked the vein for quite a way, some nice crystals were found and used for lenses.
RF 2015
See also Tearbreeches
Part of a complex including Tearbreeches, Royal Mine, Fluorspar Cavern and Speedwell Mine all entrances are sealed bar Royal Mine which is a showcave in Gulliver's Kingdom.
The complex has a reputation for being very unstable as miners were trapped in Hopping Mine while it was working. It appears that a section of the adit is ring arched and this had corroded. Later two explorers were killed due to rockfall.
REf
Volume 5 Number 4 - October 1973
The Mines near Upperwood, Matlock Bath. Part 1: The Tear Breeches - Hopping - Fluor Spar - Speedwell Complex -- Roger Flindall and Andrew Hayes
Volume 14 Number 6—Winter 2001
The Geology of the Matlock Mines: A Review — Trevor D. Ford Downloadable
Vol 10 No 1
Hopping Mine, Upperwood, Matlock Bath. Peter Naylor Downloadable