Would the lead miner in the 18th, 19th century be able to tell the quality
of Galena in a vein by its texture and colour.
The discussion on this one has been both interesting and academic, in that
the more obvious practicalities have not been mentioned. On the few
occasions I have seen ore underground it has been with the aid of a lamp -
not with a smoky candle stuck in my hat. Even then it was not easy to
identify the mineral in the vein, let alone its quality. For much of the
year, the old miners would have been in and out of the mine in total
darkness and the only people who would have seen the mined ore would have
been the dressers and the managers. Under such circumstances the miners
would have had to rely on indicators of quality other than colour. Such
things as softness, light reflection, smell and some of those intangible
properties which are hard to describe but are best covered by the term
'context'.
There is written evidence that the miners in the northern Lake District
were discarding lead carbonate ores up to about 1820 because it had not
been recognised as being lead bearing and it is probable that zinc blende
was only recognised and separated at surface. Mine engineers' reports
between then and 1880 do not mention variations in quality of the galena
itself but are more concerned with the thickness of the rib, brangling with
gangue and other minerals and continuity of the oreshoot. All these could
be observed in poor lighting conditions and confirmed by the engineer at
surface.
Regards
Richard
Richard Smith
3M UK Bracknell, B2-3N,
Environment, Safety and Security [log in to unmask]
Tel: 01344-858154 (Trim. 8-230-2154)
Fax: 01344-858367 (Trim. 8-230-2367)
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