Snowdonia copper mines on TV

Graigwen

Active member
The mine ofter 5 minutes is Sygun. I prospected this in the early 70s. Open now as a show mine it is well worth a visit. https://www.syguncoppermine.co.uk/ . As the marrator says, it is a self guided tour. I was so slow last time I was there that the mine closed and the operators went home while I was still underground, luckily the exit gate is unlocked in one direction.

The second site is Cwm Bychan, just the other side of the hill. I once put in six shifts of eight hours underground when channel sampling there.
.
 

Outdoor Miner

New member
Been round Sygun too. Class operation. Great mine, fab cafe and the kid's metal detecting and gold panning is fun too. Something for everyone.
 

mrodoc

Well-known member
I remember Sygun. Bumped into somebody I had been caving with from Devon years before! I will put some pics in media.
 

Wayland Smith

Active member
I remember the tales from when they were developing Sygyun.
They investigated the top adit and it looked great, then they went into the lower adit and realised they had been walking on rotting timber high above the stopes! o_O
 

Graigwen

Active member
I remember the tales from when they were developing Sygyun.
They investigated the top adit and it looked great, then they went into the lower adit and realised they had been walking on rotting timber high above the stopes! o_O
Not the first time that has happened. In 1971 myself and another geologist were in the top adit examining post-emplacement shearing in a quartz vein. The floor appeared solid. I tossed a small piece of quartz towards the side of the adit. The was a single noise as it hit the wall or floor, then silence for a couple of seconds, then a distant splash. It dispelled my delusion that I could recognise false floors by sight.

I bottled out of much exploration of the bottom adit owing to chest deep water and thick vegetation. It was very cold. I never expected to be able to see that false floor from below.
 
Top