Mining in Wales provided a significant source of income to the economy of Wales throughout the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. It was key to the Industrial Revolution.

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

was famous for its

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

, in the

Rhondda Valley Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley ('' ...

, the South Wales Valleys and throughout the

South Wales coalfield The South Wales Coalfield ( cy, Maes glo De Cymru) extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, espe ...

and by 1913

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

had become the largest coal exporting port in the world, with

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

as second, as coal was transported down by rail. Northeast Wales also had its own coalfield and

Tower Colliery Tower Colliery ( Welsh: Glofa'r Tŵr) was the oldest continuously working deep-coal mine in the United Kingdom, and possibly the world, until its closure in 2008. It was the last mine of its kind to remain in the South Wales Valleys. It was loc ...

(closed January 2008) near

Hirwaun Hirwaun is a village and community at the north end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. It is NW of the town of Aberdare, and comes under the Aberdare post town. At the 2001 census, Hirwaun had a popul ...

is regarded by many as the oldest open coal mine and one of the largest in the world. Wales has also had a significant history of mining for slate, gold and various metal ores.

History

There had been small-scale mining in Wales in the pre-Roman

British Iron Age The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric I ...

, but it would be undertaken on an industrial scale under the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, who completed their conquest of Wales in AD 78. Substantial quantities of gold,

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

, and

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

were extracted, along with lesser amounts of

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

. Mining would continue until the process was no longer practical or profitable, at which time the mine would be abandoned. The extensive excavations of the Roman operations at

Dolaucothi The Dolaucothi Gold Mines (; cy, Mwynfeydd Aur Dolaucothi) (), also known as the Ogofau Gold Mine, are ancient Roman surface and underground mines located in the valley of the River Cothi, near Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The gold mi ...

provide a picture of the high level of Roman technology and the expertise of

Roman engineering The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable in Greece. The architecture ...

in the ancient era.

Coal mining

During the first half of the nineteenth century mining was often at the centre of working-class discontent in Wales, and a number of uprisings such as the Merthyr Rising in 1831 against employers were a characteristic of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

in Wales, Dic Penderyn became a martyr to industrial workers. The Chartist movement and the 1839 Newport Rising showed the growing concerns and awareness of the work force of their value to the nation. There is a well-known mining song part in Welsh and part in English. I am a little collier and gweithio underground
The raff will never torri when I go up and down
It's bara when I'm hungry
And cwrw when I'm dry
It's gwely when I'm tired
And nefoedd when I die
The complete English translation is the following. I am a little collier and working underground
The rope will never break when I go up and down
It's bread when I'm hungry
And beer when I'm dry
It's bed when I'm tired
And heaven when I die
Wales blaenavon bigpit

Big Pit National Coal Museum & other mining museums in Wales

Other museums preserving the memories and heritage of the coal mining industry in Wales are at : *

South Wales Miners' Museum The South Wales Miners' Museum is a museum of the coal mining industry and its workforce in the South Wales Coalfield. It is located at Cynonville within the Afan Forest Park Visitor Centre in the Afan Forest Park, near the small village of Cy ...

near Cymmer *

Cefn Coed Colliery Museum Cefn Coed Colliery Museum is a former coal mine, now operating as a museum. It is located at Crynant near Neath in the South Wales Valleys. Background Coal mining in the Neath area began with the development of the port of Neath in the 16th ce ...

near

Crynant Crynant ( cy, Y Creunant) is a village and community in the Dulais Valley in Wales. It lies 7¾ miles north-east from the town of Neath in Neath Port Talbot, situated between the mountains of Mynydd Marchywel to the west, Hirfynydd to the east ...

* Rhondda Heritage Park near

Trehafod Trehafod is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley between Porth and Pontypridd in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, with a population of 698 in the 2011 census.(The earlier name ''Hafod'' was altered in 1905 to avoid confu ...

Slate quarrying

There has been

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

quarrying in Wales since the

Roman period The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

, when

was used to

roof A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of t ...

the fort at

Segontium Segontium ( owl, Cair Segeint) is a Roman fort on the outskirts of Caernarfon in Gwynedd, North Wales. The fort, which survived until the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, was garrisoned by Roman auxiliaries from present-day Belgium and Ge ...

, now

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor ...

. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the late 19th century, at which time the most important slate producing areas were in northwest

, including the Penrhyn Quarry near Bethesda, the Dinorwic Quarry near Llanberis, the

Nantlle Valley The Nantlle Valley ( cy, Dyffryn Nantlle, ) is an area in Gwynedd, North Wales, characterised by its numerous small settlements. The area is also historically important geologically, and featured in one of the most contentious disputes of the 1 ...

quarries, and

Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,000 ...

, where the slate was mined rather than

quarried A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

. Penrhyn and Dinorwig were the two largest slate quarries in the world, and the Oakeley mine at Blaenau Ffestiniog was the largest slate mine in the world. Slate is mainly used for roofing, but is also produced as thicker slab for a variety of uses including flooring, worktops and

headstone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, ...

s. The slate industry in North Wales is on the tentative

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

list whilst Welsh slate has been designated by the

International Union of Geological Sciences The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) is an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the field of geology. About The IUGS was founded in 1961 and is a Scientific Union member of the Int ...

as a Global Heritage Stone Resource.

Metal mining

Metal mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic viab ...

affected large areas of what are now very rural parts of

and left behind a legacy of contaminated waste heaps and a very few ruined buildings. There are a number of areas that have been mined for a variety of

metals A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typical ...

Gold mining

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

was mined as early as the

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

and possibly elsewhere. In the 19th century gold was being extracted from a number of small mines at the southern end of Snowdonia with most activity centred in the valley of the

River Mawddach The Afon Mawddach ( en, River Mawddach, italic=yes) is a river in Gwynedd, Wales, which has its source in a wide area north of Dduallt in Snowdonia. It is 28 miles (45 km) in length, and is much branched; many of the significant trib ...

and its tributaries.

Lead and silver

The principal areas were centred on the upland areas of the

River Ystwyth The River Ystwyth (; cy, Afon Ystwyth "winding river") is a river in Ceredigion, Wales. The length of the main river is . Its catchment area covers . Its source is a number of streams that include the Afon Diliw, located on the west slopes of ...

and

River Rheidol The Afon Rheidol is a river in Ceredigion, Wales, in length. The source is Plynlimon. Receiving an average annual rainfall of , Plynlimon is also the source of both the Wye and the Severn. Geography and geology The Rheidol rises in the head ...

with some outliers to the east in the catchment of the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

and some to the south in the headwaters of the

River Teifi , name_etymology = , image = File:Llyn Teifi - geograph.org.uk - 41773.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Llyn Teifi, the source of the Teifi , map = , map_size = , map_caption ...

. The largest of these mines were the

Cwmystwyth Cwmystwyth (also Cwm Ystwyth, ; en, "valley of the River Ystwyth") is a village in Ceredigion, Wales near Devil's Bridge, and Pont-rhyd-y-groes. The Ordnance Survey calculates Cwmystwyth to be the centre point of Wales (; ). History Disc ...

and Rheidol United mines in Cwm Rheidol. The ore extracted was

galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cr ...

which in many cases had a high

content, especially at Cwm Ystwyth. It also occurred alongside large quantities of

sphalerite Sphalerite (sometimes spelled sphaelerite) is a sulfide mineral with the chemical formula . It is the most important ore of zinc. Sphalerite is found in a variety of deposit types, but it is primarily in sedimentary exhalative, Mississippi-V ...

, the principal ore of

. However, the zinc was only occasionally processed and much remains on the very extensive discard heaps around the mines. Amongst the very many mines that have existed the following list identifies those known to have existed between the 17th and 19th centuries in north

Cardiganshire Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Ce ...

and west

Montgomeryshire , HQ= Montgomery , Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin= , Status= , Start= , End= ...

: Aberffrwd, Alma, Blaenceunant, Blaencwmsymlog, Bron floyd, Bryn Glas, Bwa Drain, Bwlch, Cwm Mawr,

, Cwm Ystwyth South, Cwm Ystwyth West, Cwmbryno, Cwmdarren,

Cwmsymlog Cwmsymlog is a short valley, sheltering a hamlet of the same name, in Ceredigion, in the west of Wales. Once an important mining area, but the mining slowly declined and finally came to an end in 1901. Now it is peaceful, open countryside with a ...

, De Broke, Dyffryn Castell, Elgar, Esgair Lle, Esgairmwyn, Fron Goch, Fron Goch East, Gelli, Glog fach, Glog Fawr, Goginan, Goginan west, Graig Goch, Grogwynion, Gwaith coch, Lisburne South, Llwynmalus, Llywernog, Logau Las, Melindwr, Mynyddgorddu, Nanteos, Pen Rhiw, Powell, Rheidol United, Temple, Ystumtuen Metal

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

in the Gwydir Forest dates back to the 17th century, but its heyday came in the latter half of the 19th century. These mines predominantly produced

and

, and the last mine to close – Park Mine – closed in the 1960s. Smaller areas of lead exploitation included Halkyn Mountain in

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

and in the Clyne valley in west

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the C ...

Copper

Copper mining Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...

is probably the oldest known mining activity in Wales with documented evidence of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

mining on the Great Orme near

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craig ...

and at

Copa Hill Cwmystwyth mines are located in Cwmystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales and exploited a part of the Central Wales Orefield. Mining heritage Cwm Ystwyth is considered the most important non-ferrous metal mining site in Wales providing a premier example ...

in the valley of the

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cer ...

. Further

discoveries were exploited in

Snowdonia Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the na ...

just to the east of

Beddgelert Beddgelert () is a village and community in the Snowdonia area of Gwynedd, Wales. The population of the community taken at the 2011 census was 455, and includes Nantmor and Nant Gwynant. It is reputed to be named after the legendary hound ...

where the

Sygun Copper Mine Sygun Copper Mine is a Victorian era, Victorian copper mine which closed in 1903 but was renovated and reopened by the Amies family as a tourist attraction in 1986, focusing on audio-visual tours of the underground workings. Sygun Copper Mine was ...

, within the Snowdonia National Park, gives an idea of the conditions faced by copper miners and is a popular tourist attraction. In the 18th century the massive deposits of copper together with a range of other metals was discovered and exploited at

Parys Mountain Parys Mountain ( cy, Mynydd Parys) is located south of the town of Amlwch in north east Anglesey, Wales. It is the site of a large copper mine that was extensively exploited in the late 18th century. Parys Mountain is a mountain in name only, be ...

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

Iron

Commercial

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

exploitation has been relatively uncommon in Wales during the last hundred years, despite the dominance of the

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

and

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...

industry in South Wales. However

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...

is a component of the Lower Coal Measures rock sequence and where it outcrops along the northern edge of the

South Wales Coalfield The South Wales Coalfield ( cy, Maes glo De Cymru) extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, espe ...

, it was extensively worked for the production of iron and was important in the initiation of the

in South Wales. Commercial exploitation also took place in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...

. The

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to ...

was an important source of iron for many centuries, and dates from at least the Roman period.

Lead

Lead ore was first mined in

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, ...

during

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

times at Pentre Halkyn to be smelted at

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start ...

. The lead that was produced there was stamped with the inscription Deceangli, which was the name of the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

tribe occupying the area. In the 17th century an intensive period of Welsh lead mining commenced, bringing a large number of miners from

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

into Wales. There are substantial reserves of the metal in

, probably first exploited in the Roman period, and extensively during the revival of metal mining in the reign of

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

Arsenic

Arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, b ...

has been mined in association with metals and in Wales commercial extraction has probably only occurred in the Clyne valley near Swansea.

Working mines

Following the

miners' strike Miners' strikes are when miners conduct strike actions. See also *List of strikes References {{Reflist Miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two s ...

, only two deep mines remained working in Wales.

, had been run by a miner's co-operative since 1994. Due to dwindling coal seams, the colliery was last worked on 18 January 2008, followed by official closure on 25 January.

Drift mining Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in which the entry or access is abov ...

continued at Aberpergwm Colliery, a smaller mine closed by the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...

in 1985 but reopened in 1996. Aberpergwm colliery is currently owned and operated by Energybuild and supplies the carbon market. Several other small mines still exist, including the Blaentillery drift mine near to the

Big Pit National Coal Museum Big Pit National Coal Museum ( cy, Pwll Mawr Amgueddfa Lofaol Cymru) is an industrial heritage museum in Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales. A working coal mine from 1880 to 1980, it was opened to the public in 1983 as a charitable trust called the Big ...

List of mines in Wales

Coal

* Abercynon Colliery * Abernant Colliery *

Aberpergwm Aberpergwm is the site of a colliery in the Vale of Neath near Glynneath in south Wales. Mine history The site at Aberpergwm had been worked since 1811 as a series of drift mines, but full commercial working began from the 1860s when W. William ...

(anthracite coal, drift mine, active in 2014 with 64 employee

(closed) * Albion Colliery in Cilfynydd,

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

- work began 1884 and the mine closed in 1966 * Bargoed Colliery sunk in 1887, closed 1977. *

Bedwas Navigation Colliery Bedwas Navigation Colliery was a coal mine in the small Welsh village of Bedwas, north of Caerphilly. The colliery opened in 1913, and closed after the miners' strike of 1984-85. Development In 1909 the Bedwas Colliery Company leased 1,475 acres ...

(closed 1985) *

Bersham Colliery Bersham Colliery was a large coal mine located near Rhostyllen in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The mine accessed seams found in the Denbighshire Coalfield. History The Wrexham area in the 19th Century was highly industrialised. At the peak t ...

(closed 1986) *

* Blaenant Colliery (closed 1990) * Bute Merthyr Colliery * Bwllfa Colliery * Cambrian Colliery *

*Celynen North Colliery in Newbridge * Celynen South Colliery in

Abercarn Abercarn is a small town and community in Caerphilly county borough, Wales. It is 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Newport on the A467 between Cwmcarn and Newbridge, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. History An estate at ...

(closed 1985) *Coedely Colliery, Tonyrefail (closed 1985); linked underground to Cwm Colliery Beddau (closed 1986) * Cynheidre Colliery (closed 1989) * Darran Colliery, Deri sunk 1868, closed 1919. *

Deep Navigation Colliery Deep Navigation Colliery was a coal mine in South Wales, that operated from 1872 until 1991. Located next to the co-developed village of Treharris in the borough of Merthyr Tydfil, on development it was the deepest coalmine in South Wales Coalfiel ...

, Treharris (closed 1991) * Ferndale Colliery *

Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme The Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme is a major opencast coaling operation to the north-east of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. The contracted excavator/reclaiming company is Merthyr (South Wales) Ltdprev Miller Argent, which is owned by Gwent I ...

(still under consideration as of 2013) * Garw/Ffaldau Colliery *

Gresford Colliery Gresford Colliery was a coal mine located a mile from the North Wales village of Gresford, near Wrexham. History Sinking The North Wales Coalfield, of which Gresford was part, runs from Point of Ayr, on the Flintshire coast to the Shropshire b ...

(closed 1973) *

Great Western Mine Great Western Mine, also known as Hetty Pit, was a coal mine, at Hopkinstown, near Pontypridd, Glamorgan in South Wales. History The mine was opened, as "Gyfeillon Pit", in August 1851 by John Calvert, an engineer from Yorkshire, who had al ...

* Groesfaen Colliery, Bargoed. Sunk 1902, closed 1968. * Hafodyrynys Colliery * Lady Windsor Colliery in Ynysybwl (closed 1988); linked underground to Abercynon Colliery (Closed 1988) * Llancaiach Colliery *Llay Hall Colliery, Cefn y Bedd, North Wales 1877-1947 * Mardy Colliery in Maerdy (closed 1990, site cleared and now occupied by

Avon Rubber Avon Protection plc is a British company that specialises in the engineering and manufacturing of respiratory protection equipment for military, law enforcement and fire personnel. Its corporate headquarters are south of Melksham in Wiltshir ...

); linked underground to

* Marine Colliery in Cwm, Blaenau Gwent, merged with Six Bells Colliery in the 1970s, closed in 1989 *

Mostyn Colliery Mostyn Colliery was a coal mine in Flintshire, North Wales, that was owned in the later part of its operating life by the influential Mostyn family. The colliery was located at Mostyn on the banks of the River Dee. Early history The Welsh write ...

(closed 1887 after flooding) * Nantgarw Colliery (amalgamated with Windsor Colliery in 1974, closed 1986); deepest pit in the

when sunk in 1915 *Navigation Colliery in Crumlin * Nine Mile Point Colliery at Cwmfelinfach (closed 1964) * Oakdale Colliery at Ty Mellyn in the

Sirhowy Valley The Sirhowy Valley ( ) is an industrialised valley in the eastern part of the Valleys region of Wales. It is named from the Sirhowy River () which runs through it. Its upper reaches are occupied by the town of Tredegar within the unitary area ...

(closed 1989; linked to Markham and Celynen North) *Ogilvie Colliery, Deri, South Wales. Closed 1975. *

Parc Slip Colliery Parc Slip Colliery was a coal mine near situated at Aberkenfig, near Tondu in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. History Parc Slip Colliery: 1860-1904 This pit was opened in the 1860s by John Brogden and Sons. In 1872 Brogdens merged with the L ...

* Penallta Colliery *

Pentremawr Colliery Pentremawr Colliery was a coal mine, located in the Gwendraeth valley in Carmarthenshire, South Wales. Due to the angle and depth of the anthracite in this part of Wales, Pentremawr was a slant mine, and hence access and extraction of the coal d ...

* Prince of Wales Colliery in

closed 1959. Greatest mining disaster in Monmouthshire, 1878. *

Point of Ayr :''There are two other similarly named points in the British Isles: Point of Ayre, Isle of Man and Point of Ayre, Orkney, Scotland.'' Point of Ayr ( cy, Y Parlwr Du) is the northernmost point of mainland Wales. It is situated immediately t ...

(closed 1996) * Primrose Colliery * Seven Sisters anthracite; closed 1963 *

Six Bells Colliery Six Bells Colliery was a colliery located in Six Bells, Abertillery, Gwent, Wales. On 28 June 1960 it was the site of an underground explosion which killed 45 of the 48 miners working in that part of the mine. It is now the site of the artistic ...

Abertillery Abertillery (; cy, Abertyleri) is a town and a community of the Ebbw Fach valley in the historic county of Monmouthshire, Wales. Following local government reorganisation it became part of the Blaenau Gwent County Borough administrative area ...

, site of the Six Bells Colliery Disaster in 1960, merged with Marine Colliery in the 1970s, closed in 1988 *

Taff Merthyr Taff Merthyr was a deep navigation colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries ...

* Tarenni Colliery *

(closed 1994 and re-opened after an employees' buy-out by Goitre Tower Anthracite in 1995; closed 2008 after exhaustion of the seam, but with plans to establish an opencast mine in its place) *

Universal Colliery Universal Colliery was a coal mine located in Senghenydd in the Aber Valley, roughly four miles north-west of the town of Caerphilly. It was in the county borough of Caerphilly, traditionally in the county of Glamorgan, Wales. Started in 1891, it ...

at Senghenydd, site of the Senghenydd Colliery Disaster; converted to a ventilation facility for

Windsor Colliery Windsor Colliery was a coal mine in the village of Abertridwr, Caerphilly. Opened in 1895, it amalgamated with the Nantgarw Colliery in 1974, and closed in 1986. Ty'n y Parc ( Welsh for "house on the park") housing estate now occupies the site. D ...

and then closed in 1988 *

Abertridwr, Caerphilly Abertridwr (; Welsh: ''the mouth of the three waters'') is a village in Caerphilly County Borough, Wales, situated about north-west of Caerphilly town. The "three waters" or "three streams" are Nant Cwm-parc, Nant Cwmceffyl and Nant Ilan, which ...

; closed 1986 *

Wyllie Colliery Wyllie Colliery was located in the Sirhowy Valley, South Wales. The coal mine was sunk by the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company : ''For the ironworks in the US state of Virginia, see Tredegar Iron Works.'' Tredegar Iron and Coal Company was an imp ...

in the

; closed 1968

Metal ores

* Bryntail lead mine (No longer in use) * Cilcain lead mine (No longer in use) *

Clogau Gold Mine The Clogau (pronounced "clog-eye") Gold Mine (also known as Clogau St David's) is a gold mine near Bontddu in North Wales. History The Clogau mine was opened to exploit the copper and lead veins in the area north of Bontddu. In 1854, gold was d ...

Cwmystwyth Mines Cwmystwyth mines are located in Cwmystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales and exploited a part of the Central Wales Orefield. Mining heritage Cwm Ystwyth is considered the most important non-ferrous metal mining site in Wales providing a premier example ...

Dolaucothi Gold Mines The Dolaucothi Gold Mines (; cy, Mwynfeydd Aur Dolaucothi) (), also known as the Ogofau Gold Mine, are ancient Roman surface and underground mines located in the valley of the River Cothi, near Pumsaint, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The gold mi ...

* Great Orme copper * Gwydir Forest various metal mines * Gwynfynydd gold mine (No longer in use) * Klondyke mine lead mine (No longer in use) *

Llywernog Mine Llywernog Mine is an 18th-century silver- lead mine in Llywernog, Ceredigion, Wales, currently run as an industrial heritage museum and tourist attraction. Exploiting the mineralised rocks of the Central Wales Orefield, it is one of many si ...

silver-lead mine *

Minera Leadmines The Minera Lead Mines were a mining operation and are now a country park and tourist centre in the village of Minera near Wrexham, in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. History The first written record of lead mining at Minera dates back to 1296, ...

(No longer in use) *

copper mine *

(No longer in use as a mine) * Van Leadmine Llanidloes * Penrhyn Du mines (no longer in use)

Popular culture

The theme of Public Service Broadcasting's third album,

Every Valley ''Every Valley'' is a studio album by British art rock band Public Service Broadcasting (band), Public Service Broadcasting. The group's third original album, it is a concept album which focuses on a topic of modern history, much like the band's ...

, follows the rise and fall of Welsh coal mining. It was recorded in the former steelworks town of

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr c ...

, Wales, and released on 7 July 2017.

References

External links

Welsh Coal Mines
- all the Welsh pits and their brief histories
BBC Wales Coal House website

42 pages of mining photos compiled by John Cornwell and held on Gathering the Jewels

*
AditNow
– Photographic database of mines
Welsh Mines Society
– Society with a focus on the research, recording and exploration of the metal mines of Wales {{DEFAULTSORT:Mining In Wales Economy of Wales