Great Flat Lode exotic semiconductor field trip: Difference between revisions
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The Great Flat Lode is the name given to a huge vein of ore that extends for several miles underneath the area of Carnkie, south east of Camborne. Its name comes from the fact that unlike most lodes in Cornwall that are more or less vertical, this one is more parallel with the surface and only increases in depth slowly towards the south. This is also the [https://www.globenewswire.com/zi/news-release/2024/08/19/2931883/0/en/Cornish-Metals-Reports-Final-Drilling-Results-From-Wide-Formation-Exploration-Programme.html|site of modern mining, as recent developments at South Crofty mine] (one of the last to close, in the early 90s) hope to reach a potential tin lode some distance underneath the great flat lode in the next few years. | |||
I didn't have any particular semiconducting minerals I was searching for on this trip. The geology here is quite different to the mines further to the east I'm more used to, so there was a learning/exploration aim. More radioactive minerals are present (so I took a bit more notice of the Geiger counter). There seem to be less recent and still exposed mine dumps here, so I wasn't sure which sites would be overgrown or even accessible, let alone if I could find anything. | |||
==South Condurrow Mine== | ==South Condurrow Mine== | ||
I started to the west of the great flat lode, at [https://www.mindat.org/loc-146589.html|South Condurrow (Marshall's shaft)]. This site is very overgrown, but I found a path in to the engine house and a small network of paths leading on, one heading to a small area of exposed rocks falling out of the side of a dump as it weathers away. | |||
==East Wheal Grenville== | ==East Wheal Grenville== | ||
==Wheal Basset== | ==Wheal Basset== | ||
Revision as of 15:36, 5 September 2026
The Great Flat Lode is the name given to a huge vein of ore that extends for several miles underneath the area of Carnkie, south east of Camborne. Its name comes from the fact that unlike most lodes in Cornwall that are more or less vertical, this one is more parallel with the surface and only increases in depth slowly towards the south. This is also the of modern mining, as recent developments at South Crofty mine (one of the last to close, in the early 90s) hope to reach a potential tin lode some distance underneath the great flat lode in the next few years.
I didn't have any particular semiconducting minerals I was searching for on this trip. The geology here is quite different to the mines further to the east I'm more used to, so there was a learning/exploration aim. More radioactive minerals are present (so I took a bit more notice of the Geiger counter). There seem to be less recent and still exposed mine dumps here, so I wasn't sure which sites would be overgrown or even accessible, let alone if I could find anything.
South Condurrow Mine
I started to the west of the great flat lode, at Condurrow (Marshall's shaft). This site is very overgrown, but I found a path in to the engine house and a small network of paths leading on, one heading to a small area of exposed rocks falling out of the side of a dump as it weathers away.