Irish grid ref: R269971
Situated in the midst of one of Europe's best examples of limestone karst scenery, this tiny, Victorian lead mine hosts the most remarkable deposit of smithsonite in the British Isles. Amazingly the sphalerite vein has been completely altered to green, yellow, grey and white botryoidal smithsonite!
Worked on a very small scale from about 1862-1863 a vein varying from about 30-45cm in width was worked by a shallow trench over a distance of about 100m.
All of the smithsonite was originally left in the spoil as a gangue mineral and Russell (1917) states that 3 or 4 tonnes of smithsonite was visible on the spoil! Sadly virtually none remains today as most has been bulldozed down the shaft and whatever scraps were left have been long ago collected...
The colour is due to a little cadmium sulfide (averaging 0.57% Cd).
Little more than a tiny badly weathered spoil heap remains today nothing remotely comparable to its heyday!
