UK Grid Reference: SH222283
Latitude: 52°49'21"N
Longitude: 4°38'20"W
The Rhiw mine was opened in 1886 and produced manganese ore intermittently and on a limited scale until 1896 when mining ceased. Rhiw was reopened in 1900 and, together with the adjoining Benallt Mine, enjoyed a resurgence when an orebody suitable for opencast mining was discovered. Little ore was raised after 1909, by which time the opencast was exhausted. The underground workings were flooded by 1913 and the company was dissolved in 1918.
Although separately owned, Rhiw and the adjoining Benallt Mine worked the same orebody and both surface and undergound workings were amalgamated. The north-east part of the orebody worked by the Rhiw Mine was at one stage Crown property whilst the larger Benallt Mine to the south-west was in private ownership.The distinction between the two mines on the ground is unclear (however, a large steam boiler remaining on the site is in the Rhiw Mine set).
Rhiw Mine was reopened by the Ministry of Supply in 1939 to produce minerals for the war effort. This final working incorporating the Benallt, Rhiw, Tyddyn Meirion, and Ty Canol mines. Together with local men, Cornish tin miners, Welsh coal miners, and a contingent of the Royal Canadian Engineers (1941) were also employed. The main use of the latter being to drain old workings and to drill to locate other orebodies.
The Benallt/Rhiw mines were linked to a jetty on the coast at the Nant Mine by a ropeway during the earlier working, this was later replaced by a 3 foot gauge railway.
Recorded output for Benallt, Rhiw, and Nant mines is estimated to be around 150000 tons of manganese ore.
Given the linkage between the Benallt and Rhiw mines it is likely that many of the minerals listed for the Benallt Mine will also have occurred at Rhiw Mine. Whilst some specimens (e.g. the exceptional celsian and paracelsian found in 1911) can be related specifically to underground workings at Benallt Mine, given that no minerals are listed separately for Rhiw Mine, it appears that, mineralogically at least, the two mines seem to be grouped together under the umbrella name of the larger Benallt Mine.
The parish of Rhiw has merged into that of Llanfaelrhys to the south.
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