Parys Mine - Parys Mountain, Anglesey, North Wales, UK
Posted by: 
Dragontree
N 53° 23.122 W 004° 20.921
30U E 410299 N 5915988
This large mine is a magnificent example of both open cast and underground mining.
Waymark Code: WM8FRD
Location: North Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/27/2010
Views: 6
The iron furnaces on Parys Mountain were extensive and their ruins can be seen around the mine though now reduced to rubble heaps. Most prominently are the iron deposits themselves in huge piles. The Parys Underground Group describes what the furnaces once looked like:
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visit link)
'Warehouses, offices, roasting kilns , lime kilns and smelters were set up on the mountain or in Amlwch Port. By 1786 there were 31 reverbatory furnaces with chimneys 41 foot high in the area.'
Parys Mountain has been mined since the Bronze Age and during the 18th and 19th centuries this was the largest copper mine in the world. Today the mountain is still mined with a modern shaft sunk on the western side. Mona mine is a hillside open cast on the eastern side of the mountain.
The enormous open mine you can see from the viewpoint opened up after the shallow shafts collapsed early on in its history. The mine reached depths of 300m with 130m below sea level being flooded.
Today Anglesey Mining plc, formed in 1984, have sunk a 300m shaft and formed tunnels of over 1km mining over 2000 tonnes of ore. In 1995 mining began again extracting zinc, copper, lead, silver and gold. It is still mining now and extends to 80-600m below the surface.
Parys Mountain has a public walk taking you round the mine workings and giving everyone a chance to appreciate it.