Minerals of the Trimouns,
Ariège, France

W. R. van den Berg

The Trimouns deposit, in the department of Ariège, is the most important source of talc in France. Reserves are estimated at 18 million tonnes. The quarry can only be worked for 6 months of the year, due to heavy snow in the winter, production being 300,000 tonnes of talc annually. The deposit has been known since the mid-ninteenth century but, until recently, it was thought to be of limited mineralogical interest. However, the discovery of several well crystallised rare earth minerals has made this locality one of the most interesting in France. In several issues of the French magazine 'Le Cahier des Micromonteurs', (The Bulletin of the French Micromineralogy Association) a detailed account is given of recent mineralogical research. This is outlined here with the addition of some personal observations.

The Decline of Mining in Mid Wales
and Prospects of Revival

Simon J. S Hughes

It is commonly assumed that undergrund mining in the old county of Cardiganshire now the Ceredigion District of Dyfed County, ceased about a century ago. There were exceptions such as Bwlch Glas (1934), Penrhyngerwyn (1940), Pandy (1947), Caegynon (1938), Esgairmwyn (1927), Cwmystwyth (1943) and Bryn yr Afr (1923).

The Mines of Lindal Moor, Cumbria

Alan McFadzean

One of the richest metaliferous mining fields ever exploited in the British Isles lies within the boundaries of Cumbria in the lowlands of the Furness peninsular. Hematite ore, predominantly in the kidney form, has been extracted from the outcropping carboniferous limestone ever since the Iron Age celts first become aware of its properties. The earliest documentary evidence relating to the mining of hematite is accredited to the monks of Furness Abbey who worked pits in the vicinity of Ulverston and Dalton. The inductry did not reach its peak till the mid 19th century when the local "Ironmasters" and land owners systematically exploited the rich mineral lodes.

The Minerals of the Isle of Skye

Roy Starkey

The Isle of Skye is the largest of the Inner Hebridean Islands, covering some 650 square miles, approximately 50 miles by 15 miles, roughly twice the size of Anglesea. Travelling distance from Glasgow to Mallaig is around 160 miles, from where a ferry crossing to Armadale takes you onto Skye. Alternatively, a slightly longer run to Kyle of Lochalsh (190 miles from Glasgow) offers a much shorter (and cheaper) ferry crossing, but the choice to be made is largely of personal preference rather than any specific advantage.

The island was variously known by the Norsemen as the Isle of Mists or Cloud Island, and it is a popular saying that "If you can see the Cuillins it is going to rain, and if you can't, it already is!" The population totals 7000, and the main line of communication is via ferry from the mainland at Kyle of Lochalsh.

Rainfall is high, averaging 80-100 inches per annum, compared to 40-50 inches for the Midlands. The main centres of population are Broadford and Portree, and all main services - banks, shops, petrol etc. are available here.

The Isle of Skye has received attention from many of the most famous British geologists and the early Geological Survey memoirs are classics in their own right. As a natural laboratory for the study of the field relations of rock masses Skye is still pre-eminent in the British Isles.

The Occurrence of Mattheddleite in the
Caldbeck Fells, Cumbria:
A Preliminary Note

Michael P. Cooper
David I. Green
Richard S. W. Braithwaite

During the course of a detailed study of Caldbeck Fells mineralization the presence of the newly described species mattheddleite (Pb20(SiO4)7(SO4)4Cl4) has been confirmed at four new localities. The mattheddleite has been identifed by XRD, infra red spectrophotometry, and election microscope analysis. The occurrences reported here are the first to be recorded outside the type locality of Leadhills, Scotland (Livingstone et al, 1987).

In each case mattheddleite forms minute (<0.6 mm), colourless, prismatic crystals with more-or-less pointed (scalenohedral or trapezohedral) terminations, and with a characteristic sub-adamantine lustre

The Minerals of Esgair Hir Mine, Bwlch-y-Esgair Hir, Ceulanymaesmawr, Dyfed, Wales

Stephen A. Rust
John S. Mason

A summary of the geology and history of mining at Esgair Hir Mine, Ceulanymaesmawr, Dyfed, Wales is given. The primary mineralisation has been studied by reflected light microscopy. Nickel, cobalt and antimony minerals have been identified as inclusions in the abundant primary sulphides galena and chalcopyrite. The primary paragenesis has been determined, proving broadly similar to many other localities in the Mid-Wales orefield. A wide variety of supergene minerals occur, mostly as minute euhedral crystals in cavities in oxidised sulphide; these include caledonite, hydrocerussite, langite, leadhillite, mattheddleite, susannite, wulfenite and wroewolfeite, all of which have been identified by X-ray powder diffraction.