At 09:28 18/01/2011, Alasdair Neill wrote:
>These would be comparable with the tailings dams which is the method
>of disposing of the the vast majority of mineral dressing waste
>worldwide. Often they were constructed from waste itself, but
>sometimes from seperate material (in the UK such as the modern
>Cavendish Mill, Wheal Maid and Wheal Jane tailings dams, and I
>believe the Chaterhouse dams which I seem to recall have been dated as Roman).
There has been the suggestion that the Charterhouse dams, on Mendip
in north Somerset, date from the Roman period but that is not
supported by the evidence. Material dated to the Roman period has
been found in the sediments within the dams but that is to be
expected for a dam constructed in the nineteenth century to contain
tailings from the reworking of Roman smelting residues (slag).
Peter
Dr Peter Claughton,
Blaenpant Morfil, nr. Rosebush, Clynderwen, Pembrokeshire, Wales SA66 7RE.
Tel. +44 (0)1437 532578; Fax. +44 (0)1437 532921; Mobile +44 (0)7831 427599
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