Hi Alastair
Check out my (sadly now out of print) book Crystal Mountains - Minerals of the Cairngorms for lots of interesting historical detail on the quartz crystal hunting industry https://britishmineralogy.com/wordpress/?page_id=143
The spot highlighted just below Stag Rocks is somewhere I've walked past many times, but had not been aware of your cited references.
I think a cave is pushing it a bit to qualify as a mine sensu-stricto, but if that's OK, I can easily beat that with a 5 metre-long cave that was definitely worked for (and produced) smoky quartz crystals. It is on the rim of the crags near Slugain Buttress of Beinn a'Bhuird at an altitude of around 3650 ft (1112 metres) . If you ever want to visit let me know and I'll provide a grid reference.
The major area of crystal diggings on the plateau are wide spread and generally amount to little more than disturbed grounds and little piles of gravelly pegmatitic debris, so personally I would not count these trenching operations as 'mining'.
Cheers
Roy
-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of alastair lings
Sent: Monday, August 7, 2023 3:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Highest mine in the British Isles?
Here's another contender for the highest mine in the British Isles, Quartz-diggers cave on Cairngorm Mountain:
https://registry.gsg.org.uk/sr/sitedetails.php?id=4572
Looking at the 1:25 000 scale map the height at the grid reference is about 850 metres. The mine may be in the rock face a few 10s of metres above.
There may be surface workings higher up on Cairngorm, and on Ben Avon where "You can still see the diggers' stone workings on the plateaux" (1110 metres) (Adam Watson, 1975. The Cairngorms. Scottish Mountaineering Trust, Edinburgh. page 199).
On Monday, 19 June 2023 at 16:40:12 GMT+1, Tony Clarke <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
How nerdy can u get???????
________________________________
From: mining-history <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of alastair lings <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 19 June 2023 14:59
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Highest mine in the British Isles?
That's an impressive altitude. Much higher than the barite opencast on Beinn Eagagach at 650 m, NN 853 564, 7 km north of Aberfeldy.
Of nearby interest is the neolithic hornsfels quarry on Creag na Caillich at about 760 m, NN 562 367, 4 km north of Kenmore.
If you look at the top corner of the Geological Surveys detailed map (SH65SSW) of Snowdon there is an adit marked at about 835 metres.
https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/data/MapsPortal/series.html?series=10k&collection=NGMAP&sheet=SH65
There might be a higher gully/cave working in the same area of Snowdon, which walkers use as a bivvy site.
On Monday, 19 June 2023 at 13:27:53 GMT+1, Stephen Moreton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I have just visited the remains of the remote Corriebuie silver/lead mine, near the summit of Meall nan Oighreag, Loch Tay. At 2733 feet (833 metres) (that's the summit, the mine is likely just a few tens of feet lower) is this the highest mine in the British Isles, or can anyone think of any higher?
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