Dartmoor tin-mining

The tin mining industry on Dartmoor, Devon, England, is thought to have originated in pre-Roman times, and continued right through to the 20th century, when the last commercially worked mine (Golden Dagger Mine) closed in November 1930 (though it saw work during the Second World War). From the 12th century onwards tin mining was regulated by a stannary parliament which had its own laws.
Tin is smelted from cassiterite, a mineral found in hydrothermal veins in granite, and the uplands of Dartmoor were a particularly productive area. The techniques used for the extraction of tin from Dartmoor followed a progression from streaming through open cast mining to underground mining. Today, there are extensive archaeological remains of these three phases of the industry, as well as of the several stages of processing that were necessary to convert the ore to tin metal.
Stannary law.
Mining became such an important part of life in the region that as early as the 12th century, tin miners developed their own set of laws (stannary law) and, ultimately, their own parliaments (stannary parliaments). These laws applied to anyone involved in the industry.
Stannaries were established in Tavistock, Ashburton and Chagford by King Edward I in 1305. Plympton followed soon after. The Devon stannary parliament met in an open-air forum at Crockern Tor from 1494.
Anyone who broke a stannary law could find himself imprisoned in the gaol at Lydford. The stannary courts were abolished in 1836.
Geology.
The majority of the tin mines on Dartmoor are located in granite country rock and most of the lodes trend ENE–WSW and are of limited length, though there are exceptions. In the underground workings, the tin ore, cassiterite, was usually found in association with large amounts of tourmaline, and in central Dartmoor with much specular haematite. In the southern part of the moor, the cassiterite was usually found in relatively large grains, but the lodes were of very variable quality. These factors, combined with the fact that none of the underground workings was found to be profitable at depth, are typical of the deepest zone of tin mineralisation. The once very extensive alluvial deposits of tin ore, that were the first deposits to be mined, also point to the vast quantity of ore that once existed in lodes that have been eroded from above the granite since it was emplaced in the Carboniferous period.
Mining methods.
Streaming.
The earliest means of recovery, known as streaming or streamworking, involved the collection of alluvial deposits from river and stream beds where they had accumulated after being eroded from the ore-bearing lodes. The geological processes that resulted in the deposition of the cassiterite in the stream beds often resulted in very pure tin gravel which was mixed with gravels of other, unwanted, minerals such as quartz, mica and feldspar, collectively known as "gangue". It was relatively easy to separate these minerals on the basis of their very different specific gravities – cassiterite about 7 and gangue 3 or less. The separation was performed by passing a stream of water over the gravels: the gangue would be washed away faster than the wanted tin gravel.
Once a tin-bearing valley had been identified, the stream-workers would arrange a stream of water, probably carried by a leat from higher up the valley, and starting at the lowest end of the deposit they would dig a trench (known as the "tye") as deep as possible to allow the finer gangue to be washed away. From there they would start working up the valley, using the stream of water to wash over the debris they had loosened from the bed with picks. This method of working leaves characteristic evidence in the valleys - a series of ridges of the larger gangue material, sometimes roughly perpendicular to, sometimes coaxial with the line of the valley, sometimes apparently haphazard, all bounded by a scarp which marked the edge of the worked ground and whose height relates to the depth of the deposits.
Eluvial deposits—those that had weathered from the lode in the usual way, but had not then been transported by flowing water—were also worked; these tended to be poorer deposits due to the lack of sorting that a stream provides, and they usually did not have such a ready supply of water available to work them. They are found on gently sloping hillsides. Where possible the water needed to work these deposits was carried by a leat from the nearest available river, or if the site was above such supplies, reservoirs were constructed to collect rainwater and runoff from hillsides.
A study has shown that a phase of aggradation occurred in the Erme valley between the 4th century and 7th century, providing evidence of late Roman or early post-Roman tin mining activity in this valley. The same study confirmed what documentary evidence also relates: that there was a boom in tin production in the 13th century. The earliest written record of tin streaming comes from the 12th century.
Open cast.
By the 15th century, the sources of stream tin were becoming scarce and since the demand for tin was as strong as ever, the direct working of lodes was considered viable despite the greater effort needed in both extraction and refining. "Beamworks" was the name given by the tinners to workings where the lode was followed by digging down from the surface, and the massive gullies that resulted remain prominent features of the moor today. Several of these gullies retain names that include the word "beam": Gibby Beam, Willabeam and Scudley Beam, for example. They are also known as "openworks" or "gerts".
Another method of surface mining involved digging pits at intervals along the lode – this was known as "lodeback-work". At times these pits were dug in pairs along the back of the lode and the lode followed underground between them. This may have been the precursor to beamworks in a number of locations, but enough lodeback pits survive to indicate that it was a separate technique. The issue that mine managers had to decide was whether it was worth removing the extra overburden to form a gulley in order to be able to mine deeper into the lode.
In a similar fashion to streamworking, much use was made of water for the removal of the overburden and gangue. When digging large gullies the overburden, which consisted at least partly of decomposed granite ("growan"), was loosened with picks, and then water was used to wash away the unwanted material instead of manhandling it. Means of collecting, diverting and storing water were always associated with openworks. In some cases when only poor sources of water were available complex systems of reservoirs were built.
Underground.
The Dartmoor tin industry declined in importance during the early 18th century and had fallen to nothing by 1730. This was due to a number of factors, but the most important was likely to be the exhaustion of the easily accessible deposits. It was not until the Industrial Revolution fuelled demand for all metals and also provided the technology to mine them that mining resumed on the moor on any scale.
Although underground mining technology had been available for many centuries, it is likely that the joint problems of the hardness of the granite rock and the preponderance of underground water together with the relatively easy pickings from near the surface made deep mining unviable until the late 18th century.
Many small mining enterprises started up on Dartmoor in the late 18th and 19th centuries – 48 mines are known to have produced some tin during this period. Many of these ventures were unsuccessful, despite being given optimistic names like Wheal Fortune, Wheal Lucky and Wheal Prosper (the common prefix "Wheal" is a Celtic word meaning "mine" or "works"). Some larger mines, however, such as Eylesbarrow and the Vitifer – Birch Tor complex were productive for many years.
Almost all of the underground mines re-worked lodes that had already been mined from the surface. Because of the great quantity of underground water, it was necessary to dig horizontal adits into the hillsides to de-water the mines. Dartmoor's topography, cut with deep valleys, helped there and in many cases it was possible to dig to a reasonable depth without the need to pump out water. These adits connected with shafts that were either sunk vertically downwards or followed the line of the steeply dipping lode. Working the lode then took place by stoping from the horizontal levels in the usual manner.
When it became necessary to go deeper than the lowest adit, it was essential to pump out the water. Large waterwheels were used for this and where the shaft was higher than a good water supply, the waterwheel was located lower down the hillside and the power transferred up to the shaft by a "flatrod" system. Evidence for these systems survives as double rows of stones with grooves on their tops – these held the pulleys that guided the metal rods. Such stone rows are still visible at Eylesbarrow and at Hexworthy.
The discovery of extensive tin deposits in Malaya in the later 19th century had a major impact on the Dartmoor industry, and many miners emigrated. The last tin mine on Dartmoor finally closed just before the Second World War, although Hemerdon Mine, or Hemerdon Ball, was mined for tungsten and tin on a trial basis in the 1980s, leading to the re-opening this mine with first production in 2015.
Processing.
After collection the tin ore had to be crushed, concentrated and then smelted. Over time a series of ever more sophisticated processes were used for these operations.
Crushing.
Early streamworkers operating on a small scale used a block of hard stone as a mortar and perhaps a metalbound piece of wood or a ball of stone as a pestle to break up the ore when necessary, but the rich gravels would have required little or no crushing before concentration. A later technique called "crazing" employed a pair of circular stones used like millstones, the top one rotating on the fixed lower stone. The coarse gravel or crushed ore was introduced into a hole in the centre of the top stone and was rendered to a fine sand. Only three examples of such crazing mills have been found; at Gobbet mine both stones are still visible.
As it became necessary to regularly process pieces of ore-bearing rock that were too large to be directly ground in a crazing mill, stamping was introduced. This involved vertical hammers powered by a waterwheel in a Stamp mill, of which at least 60 are known to have existed on Dartmoor. The first documentary evidence for a stamping mill on Dartmoor is dated 1504, though they would almost certainly have been in use earlier than this (the first reference for Cornwall is from 1400, for instance). Stamping mills were also known as "knacking" or "knocking" mills; Knacking Mill Gulf, a shallow side valley in the upper reaches of the River Erme, attests to the existence of such a mill there at one time.
The hammers or "stamps" in a stamping mill consisted of vertical balks of timber, iron-shod at the bottom, which were lifted by cams attached to the waterwheel drive shaft, and repeatedly dropped onto the ore which lay on a block of granite known as a mortarstone. There were usually two or three of these stamps in a row, powered by the same drive and operating in sequence. At first this process operated on the dry ore, which was shovelled in and removed by hand. However, in a 16th-century innovation from Europe, the stamp heads were surrounded by a wooden box with a finely perforated grill at one end and the ore was washed into the box by a stream of water which also washed out the crushed ore once it was just fine enough to pass through the grill. This was a vast improvement over dry stamping because it was a continuous process that also stopped the production of unwanted very fine dust.
The characteristic indicator of a former stamping mill is the mortarstone. These are blocks of granite up to a metre long with flat faces bearing two, three or (rarely) four circular or elliptical hollows usually around 17 cm in diameter and up to about 10 cm deep. Many of these mortarstones have hollows on more than one face, showing that they were turned and reused once the hollows became too deep for effective stamping.
Improvements to the technology in the 18th and 19th centuries involved increasing the number of stamping heads and replacing the granite mortarstone with a thick bed of crushed quartz contained in a masonry or iron box. By the 1900s there were several different types of stamps in use: Cornish, Californian, Holman's Pneumatic, etc.
Concentration.
Although individual grains or pebbles of alluvial tin collected by streaming were often of high purity it was usually still necessary to remove the unwanted "gangue" material before the ore could be smelted. The need for this process, which was known as dressing the ore, increased as the poorer sources of lode tin were exploited. The principle of concentration was a refined version of that used by the early tin-streamers: it depended on the large difference in specific gravity between the wanted tin ore and the gangue. Many different mechanical methods were used, including rectangular and circular buddles, Wilfley tables and revolving slime tables, kieves, trommels, and even magnetic separation.
An early separation method was the rectangular buddle which was simply a slightly inclined plane over which the crushed material was washed by a gentle stream of water. The heavier ore would settle near the top of the incline while the lighter material would settle lower down or be washed off the buddle altogether. As there was a gradation in quality from the top to the bottom, the mineworker's skill lay in deciding where to make the dividing line between the wanted material and the waste. The division was often made in three parts: the "heads", which represented the best quality ore; the "middles", which was often reprocessed; and the "tailings", which was dumped.
From about 1848 a circular form of the buddle was introduced. The crushed ore, suspended in water was introduced onto a central cone and spread outwards over a slightly inclined conical surface. The "heads" would settle near the centre and the "tailings" at the outer edge. The main innovation of the circular buddle was a set of sweep arms, powered by a waterwheel, which rotated above the buddle and carried brushes or pieces of fabric that dragged across the surface of the settling deposits. By continuously disturbing the surface of the deposit, these stopped the formation of rivulets and allowed better separation to be obtained. The buddle would be run until the deposit built up to between 6 and 12 inches (15 and 30 cm.) deep. The deposits would then be dug out in three portions, the "middles" often being reprocessed in another buddle of a slightly different specification.
Smelting.
The earliest method of liberating the metal from the tin ore necessitated two smeltings: the first was done at or near the streamworks and involved no more than a fire used to roast the ore; the second smelting was done at one of the Stannary towns. Little is known of the details of these practices, but their existence is confirmed by early documents that mention taxation of first and second smeltings. The introduction of the efficient blowing house process in around 1300 allowed the use of just one smelting. Later still reverberatory furnaces were used. Both types were in use at Eylesbarrow mine in the first half of the 19th century—the last place on Dartmoor where smelting was done.
Consequences.
The effects of the large scale of early tin streaming were felt on the coast, as several harbours silted up due to the amount of fine material that was washed down the rivers. Because of this, in 1532 a Stannary Court decree ordained that all rubbish should be deposited in "old Hatches, Tipittes, miry Places, or other convenient Places" away from the main streams.
The impact of mining on the Dartmoor landscape is still clear to see. Walkers on the moor will often stumble upon ruined blowing houses and mortar stones, featuring rows of semi-circular depressions, in which the ore was crushed. Many of the later mine shafts have now been filled in, but a few do still remain, fenced off to prevent walkers or animals from falling in.
Three hares symbol.
The three hares is a circular motif which appears in sacred sites from the Middle and Far East to the churches of south west England (where it is often referred to as the "Tinners’ Rabbits"). It occurs with the greatest frequency in the churches of the West Country of England. The motif appears in architectural wood carving, stone carving, window tracery and stained glass. In South Western England there are nearly thirty recorded examples of the Three Hares appearing on 'roof bosses' (carved wooden knobs) on the ceilings in medieval churches in Devon, (particularly Dartmoor). There is a good example of a roof boss of the Three hares at Widecombe-in-the-Moor, Dartmoor, with another in the town of Tavistock on the edge of the moor.
Tinners' Rabbits is the name of a dance of many forms involving use of sticks and rotation of three, six or nine dancers.


Novinger, Missouri

Novinger is a town in Nineveh Township, Adair County, Missouri, United States. The population was 456 at the 2010 census.
History.
Key events in Novinger history include the arrival of the Quincy, Missouri & Pacific railroad and filing of the town plat by founder John C. Novinger in 1878, the establishment of a U.S. Post Office the next year, and the first shaft coal mine in 1883. A turn-of-the-century coal mining boom saw Welsh, Germans, Scots-Irish, Italians, natives of the Balkan countries and many others and their families immigrate from all over the world. It was this boom that finally saw Novinger incorporated as a city in 1901 as the population swelled into the thousands. However, the Great Depression, a post-World War II switch to mostly natural gas and electric heat in American homes, and heavy industry's lessening coal use doomed the area coal fields. The railroads had pulled out by 1950, and the last mine, Billy Creek Coal Mine southwest of Novinger, closed in January 1966. At the time of its closing Billy Creek was the last operating deep shaft mine in Missouri.
Novinger versus Nature: Being a river town, Novinger was no stranger to frequent flooding of the Chariton River during the community's early years. However a channelization of the Chariton by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s alleviated much of the threat. But in June 2008 a series of heavy rains led to flooding of the Chariton, and more significantly, let flash flood waters of Spring Creek and Davis Creek to back up from the river into Novinger. Several homes in the low-lying southwestern part of town were heavily damaged, as was the historic 1800s log homestead and Novinger Community Center. On May 13, 2009 a large tornado, estimated as a strong EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, struck the southern edge of Novinger. At least six homes were destroyed, along with two brick buildings in the business district. The tornado caused moderate-to-severe damage to over fifty homes and businesses. Fortunately only minor injuries to residents were reported. Additionally, other homes and barns were also badly damaged or destroyed in rural Adair County southwest of Novinger. Adding insult to injury two days later on May 15 heavy rains once again caused severe flash flooding to Novinger's low-lying areas, including once again the Novinger Community Center and log homestead -— both of which had only recently been repaired from damage suffered in the June 2008 flood. The combination of tornado and flood forced the first-ever cancellation of Novingers annual Coal Miner Days celebration as well as postponement of graduation ceremonies at Novinger R-1 High School.
Late on the night of September 11, 2010 a major fire swept through the Novinger business district. Five buildings, including the former city hall and senior citizen center were destroyed, as well as two businesses.
Novinger today.
The Novinger business community is but a fraction of its size during the coal boom days. The town proper and surrounding area offer two beauty salons, two construction companies, two convenience stores, a catering business, farm supply store, heating and cooling repair, and auction service. Most Novinger residents however must travel to the larger city of Kirksville to the east or Milan to the west for employment, thus making Novinger largely a bedroom community.
Education for the town, and much of western Adair County, is provided by the Adair County R-1 school district. The school facility is located on Missouri Highway 149 in Novinger. Recent improvements to the town include storm warning capability, upgraded water system, and upgrades to the community center and community fairgrounds. In 2011 an outdoor basketball court was constructed with the assistance of Toolbox Ministries, a traveling Christian-based community betterment organization. Fire protection for the community is provided by a well-equipped volunteer fire department. At various times Novinger has employed a town marshal, but the majority of law enforcement protection comes from the county sheriff's department and state patrol.
Recreation activities include deer and turkey hunting, along with fishing in the nearby lakes, ponds and the Chariton River, boating and waterskiing at Thousand Hills State Park, four miles east of Novinger. There is a reconstructed historic log homestead and Coal Miners’ Museum. A community center hosts private functions and annual town celebrations. Novinger Renewal Inc., Novinger Planned Progress, and the Novinger Lions Club are three civic organizations. In October 2012, Novinger received two first place honors from the Missouri Community Betterment Organization. A Novinger youth group received one of the awards, while the town as a whole received first place in the overall community betterment category. The year 2012 marked the third consecutive in which Novinger had received awards from Missouri Community Betterment.
The Cabins Historic District near Novinger was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Geography.
Novinger is located at (40.233198, -92.706504).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Novinger can be found on the north side of Missouri Highway 6, approximately seven miles west of Kirksville. Missouri Highway 149 bisects the town on a north–south axis, while Adair County Route "O" travels through the main downtown business district.
Demographics.
Novinger is part of the Kirksville Micropolitan Statistical Area.
2010 census.
As of the census of 2010, there were 456 people, 206 households, and 124 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 246 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.7% White, 0.7% Native American, and 0.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.2% of the population.
There were 206 households, of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% were married couples living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 39.8% were non-families. 35.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.89.
The median age in the city was 44.5 years. 21.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.7% were from 25 to 44; 32% were from 45 to 64; and 17.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 51.5% male and 48.5% female.
2000 census.
As of the census of 2000, there were 534 people, 225 households, and 152 families residing in the city. The population density was 662.7 people per square mile (254.5/km). There were 246 housing units at an average density of 305.3/sq mi (117.3/km). The racial makeup of the city was 99.25% White and 0.75% Native American. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.50% of the population.
There were 225 households, out of which 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the city the population was spread out, with 25.1% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $20,990, and the median income for a family was $26,000. Males had a median income of $19,500 versus $17,625 for females. The per capita income for the city was $10,586. About 14.9% of families and 15.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.7% of those under age 18 and 15.8% of those age 65 or over.


Holytown

Holytown (, ) is a village situated to the east of Bellshill and north of Motherwell in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Most local amenities are shared with the adjacent villages of Carfin, Newarthill and New Stevenston which have a combined population of around 20,000 across the four localities.
History.
Pronounced 'Holly-town'; the area was born and grew on the back of the nearby coal mining industries in the 18th century, although the roots of the town stretch back to at least the 17th Century, where records show that a meeting house was used for prayer services for the community.
One old description of the town from the 19th century from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland by Francis H Groome, 1885 is as follows:
Holytown, a town in Bothwell parish, Lanarkshire, 1 mile E by N of Holytown Junction on the Caledonian railway, 5½ miles SSE of Coatbridge, and 11 ESE of Glasgow. Surrounded by a well-worked part of the Lanarkshire mineral-field, and partaking largely in the industry and traffic connected with the working of the same, it experienced considerable increase of prosperity from the opening of the Cleland and Midcalder railway (1866), in result partly of through traffic on that line and partly of junction-communication with Motherwell.
It includes the suburb of New Stevenston, ½ mile SSW ; and has a post office, with money order, savings' bank, and telegraph departments, a branch of the Clydesdale Bank, 3 insurance agencies, gasworks, a quoad sacra parish church, a Free church, and has 2 public schools. The quoad sacra parish is in the presbytery of Hamilton and synod of Glasgow and Ayr ; its minister's stipend is £120.
Pop. of town
(1836) 755,
(1861) 1135,
(1871) 2197,
(1881) 2480, of whom 1048 were in New Stevenston ;
of q. s. parish
(1871) 10,099,
(1881) 10,449.—Ord. Sur., sh. 31, 1867.
Reports of living conditions showed that the residents of the town lived in tough conditions in the 19th century. In 1913, one report describing housing in Jerviston Square said that the housing "may be taken as an example of houses that are very near the border line of the habitable standard".
Working in mining was a dangerous life with long hours, and accidents resulting in multiple deaths were not uncommon in Lanarkshire. Life was harsh, but forged the character of the working class mining community in the face of hardship, especially the politics of Keir Hardie, the founder of the Labour Party in the UK.
The Holytown Miners' Association was a local union formed in the 1840s. In 1847 the union attempted to restrict output, to combat a 1s (5p) per day wage reduction proposed by the owners. The owners imposed a 3-month 'lockout', which ended in defeat for the union. In 1855 the union merged with the Scottish Coal and Iron-stone Miners' Protective Association. According to the Board of Trade Reports there was another Association of the same name formed in the early 1890s. With an estimated membership of 200 for both 1894 and 1895 it became a branch of the Lanarkshire Miners' County Union in 1896.
Many have drifted away since the early 1990s due to the decline in the coal industries.
The bulk of people in the town are now employed in blue collar roles including manufacturing and retail roles. The local Euro Terminal set up in the 1990s has not materialised with a huge boom in jobs as hoped. Other well-known local employers include Honeywell, a large electronics firm based in the Newhouse industrial estate.
Notable people from Holytown include the politician Keir Hardie and footballers Harry McShane and Matt Balunas. Holytown was also the birthplace of James Williamson, noted Scottish civil engineer involved with many of the Hydro-electric power schemes of the 1930-1950s.
Description.
The population of Holytown is approximately 5483 (2001 Census), divided between the four main population areas. The town is approximately 422 hectares (2001 Census) in size. There are around 5-6 public houses ("pubs") and two primary schools as well as two main places of worship.
The main backbone of the town is Main Street, which stretches across the north of the town from east to west upon which are the numerous shops and pubs. The town has lost various services with the old bank (Clydesdale Bank) having moved out of the town (now a dentists) whilst certain other services such as the petrol station closed around the late 1970s. There is no longer a Post Office (with the premises most recently occupied by a desserts store), the nearest Post Offices are located in New Stevenston and Bellshill. The video shops that were in the town closed in the mid-1990s.
Hairdressers and barber shops, and a vets still ply their trade in the town.
For general shopping most go to the nearest local towns, especially Bellshill. Motherwell and Hamilton are used for clothes and gifts shopping with their larger shopping centres, or for a big day out families head into Glasgow which is convenient to reach with the M8 motorway.
The community centre is used for various activities all year round, for dances and larger get-togethers. As of September 2009, the future of Holytown Community Centre is under threatened closure by North Lanarkshire Council although residents intend to fight for the Centre to remain open.
A halal butchers was opened in the late 1990s to help cater for the Muslims in the districts.
Holytown railway station (which is actually located in New Stevenston) has a direct link into Glasgow and Edinburgh and the approximate time from Holytown to Glasgow is 20–30 minutes by car or train, and 45 minutes to Edinburgh. The station (opened in 1869) is not conveniently located, so buses into Motherwell or to Glasgow (or even a bus to Motherwell for the train to get to Glasgow) is more usual.
A sports centre was built in the early 1990s and named "The Keir Hardie Leisure Centre" in honour of local hero James Keir Hardie. The Centre's gym (two rooms) and indoor 5-a-side football pitch are regularly used.
In 1976, the Michael Sherry Senior Citizen Centre was built for use by the senior citizens in the immediate area. It has been in continual use since, and is primarily used by the senior citizens but also by the community a like. Activities taking place include, lunch clubs, dance classes, craft classes, bowling clubs, bingo nights, church activities, community councils and MSP surgeries.
In the 2010s, a large new housing development, "Torrance Park" (featuring an adjacent 18-hole golf course of the same name, designed by Dave Thomas) was established to the south-east of the village, off the main road to Newarthill. Although referred to as Holytown in documentation, the development shares the "ML1 5" postcode with Newarthill and is counted alongside that town in some statistics.
Religion.
The town is historically Protestant (Presbyterian/Church of Scotland), and the character of the town remains so. On the far east of the town on Edinburgh Road stands Holytown Parish Church, possibly the oldest building in the town which is still used on a daily basis. The original church was founded in the 17th century which helped to set the roots of the town. The current building was built and opened in 1837.
There is also a thriving community of people of Irish Catholic descent, who have long set up a Roman Catholic school with a church in the town, Christ the King Church. The church and the school are both on the main street. The church was founded 1975 on the site of the public primary school which had moved to a new building.
A small number of Muslims began to move to Lanarkshire in the late 1960s, and a few families of Pakistanis moved to Holytown in the 1970s. For prayers, a room above one of the shops on the main street (across from the Christ the King Church) was used as a small makeshift mosque for Muslims throughout Lanarkshire during the early to mid-1980s (the mosque was the first in Lanarkshire) before it moved to Carfin. In those days, for Eid (Islam's holiest religious annual day), Christ the King Church on the main street used to help and provide their halls to the small Lankarkshire Muslim community for use for the day. In the mid-1980s, the initial group of people who formed the mosque (led by Ghulam Saqlain Siddiquie who was a long-time resident in Holytown) formed the Lanarkshire Muslim Welfare Society. Ghulam Saqlain Siddiquie was awarded an MBE in January 2014 for his work in creating racial harmony over more than 30 years. Since the mid-1990s there has been a halal butchers to cater for the area.
Football.
The town has had its own teams representing the area, as listed below. There are still various small amateur teams playing in local regional leagues at all ages representing the community.
One notable footballer from Holytown was Harry McShane who won the First Division in England with Manchester United in 1951-52 and then played for various clubs in and around the north-west of England. He was the father of the British TV actor Ian McShane.
John Reid was a member of parliament for the local constituency. On 28 September 2007 it was announced that he would become Chairman of Celtic Football Club. Reid is a lifelong supporter of the club and described the appointment as the next best thing to playing for his heroes.
Edward "Eddie" Pearson, who played for Celtic FC in their inaugural match on 28 May 1888, was born in Holytown in March 1863.
Nowadays, Holytown Colts are the only football team from Holytown, though they exist only at boys club and amateur levels.
War memorial.
Made Motherwell run
The inscription on the statue says:
 "In Memory of the Men of Holytown District who fell in the Great War 1914 - 1918".
and on the lower plinth it says:
 "Their name liveth for evermore".
The statue is made of granite, and is 16 ft x 8 ft x 8 ft, and is of a life-sized kilted soldier bearing full uniform, on a tapering plinth stepped base.
The statue was built by Scott & Rae (Sculptors) and James Paterson (Builder), and was unveiled by Alexander Whitelaw on 9 October 1921 with a dedication by Rev JD Dykes. The cost of the memorial was £1160 which was funded by public, private and corporate donations.
Currently (October 2009) building work is underway to restore the war memorial to its former glory. Plans include a new surrounding and properly landscaped memorial gardens.
Politics.
Holytown's biggest claim in its history is undoubtedly being the home of James Keir Hardie (more commonly referred to as simply "Keir Hardie"), founder of the Labour Party in Britain. He was born in the hamlet of Legbrannock in 1856, which is now in the Holytown area, and his old home/cottage has been preserved for future generations ("the Keir Hardie Cottage"). In honour of the great man, a street in the town is named after him ("Keir Hardie Avenue") as is the local sports centre ("The Keir Hardie Leisure Centre"). His name is still a focal point for pride and respect for the town and its people.
Since the time of Keir Hardie the town has been a Labour Party territory.
The town now lies in the Hamilton North and Bellshill constituency for the House of Commons (Parliament) and Scottish Parliament (previously in Motherwell and Wishaw), with Michael McMahon as the local MSP (Member for Scottish Parliament) winning the seat with a 19.2% majority in 2007.
A previous MP for the town was John Reid MP, who went on to serve in various high level positions in government including Home Secretary and Leader of House of Commons.
The current MP is Neil Gray, who was first elected in 2015 for the Scottish National Party, replacing Pamela Nash of The Labour Party. This is the first time in many generations that the town has not been represented in parliament by a Labour Party MP.
Robert Crosser was born in Holytown in 1874, and was a Congressman in the US government for 38 years. His family emigrated when he was still a child in 1881 to the USA, where he was educated and made his way through university, law and the US government. A Democrat, he gained senior positions in government. Crosser suffered from arthritis, and used a wheelchair from 1934 onwards. He died in Cleveland in 1957 and was buried in Highland Park Cemetery in the US.


Rowghat Mines

The Rowghat Mines contain the largest iron ore deposits in Chhattisgarh, India, after the Bailadila Iron Ore Mine. Rowghat Mines' reserves have been assessed at 731.93 Mn tonnes. Bailadila has reserves assessed at 1.343 Bn tonnes. Iron ore deposits in Rowghat were discovered in 1899 and in 1949 Geological Survey of India investigated the area.
Location and approach.
Location.
Rowghat iron ore deposits are located in the Antagarh Tahsil of Kanker district of Chhattisgarh state.
The area of deposits is covered in Topo sheet No. - 65 E/1. It lies between longitude - 81°03' to 81°14' and latitude - 19°45'30" to 19°58'.
Rowghat deposit is NNW of Narayanpur, and about from Jagdalpur.
Approach.
Nearest rail head is Kewati which is about from the deposit areas.
The stretch of state highway SH-9 (Antagarh–Narayanpur–Kondagaon Road) passes through the Rowghat area and connects it with National Highway 43 at Kondagaon located at about 50 km distance.
Dalli Rajhara–Jagdalpur rail line.
Dalli Rajhara–Jagdalpur line has been proposed which, in Phase 1, would connect Rowghat to Dalli Rajhara. Construction of the section from Dalli Rajhara to Rowghat of the rail line is currently underway amid threat from Naxalites and other challenges.
Reserve volumes.
Iron ore is spread over 6 deposits. Deposit blocks A to E stretch for a length of with average width of 250 m while deposit F stretches over with a width of 500 m. Iron ore occurs in the form of hematite and sometimes as magnetite, goethite, specularite etc.
Rowghat iron ore deposits reserves have been assessed at 731.93 Mn tonnes.
Deposit blocks D and F account for major share - A Block (8.06 Mn tonnes), B Block: (10.80 Mn tonnes), C Block: (55.22 Mn tonnes), D Block: (167.00 Mn tonnes), E Block: (14.40 Mn tonnes), F Block: (476.45 Mn tonnes). Media reports peg the iron ore reserve in F Block at 511 Mn tonnes.
Deposits A to E are under free hold and a number of PL (Prospecting License)/ ML (Mining License) applications have been made to the authorities. Deposit Block F has been allocated to SAIL.
Classification of area.
The Rowghat deposits lie in Zone 2 being the north–south trending liner belt in Central India as per classification by Geological Survey of India. The proposed area has been notified by the Government of Chhattisgarh Vide MRD Notification No.F7-13/20/10/12 and F7-16/2007/12, dated 08.04.2010 published in the Chhattisgarh Gazette, dated 23.04.2010, pages 382–384. The deposit area falls within forest land.
Grade of iron ore.
Fe content varies in the various blocks - A Block (62.58% Fe), B Block (50.29% Fe), C Block (57.00% Fe), D Block (60.00% Fe), E Block (52.93% Fe),and F Block (59.62% Fe).
Mining and environment issues.
The deposit area falls within forest land hence specific clearances from Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and Chhattisgarh state forest department are required to be taken prior to undertaking any mining activities.
SAIL made its first application in 1983 for Rowghat mines and after 13 years in 1996, the MoEF granted in principle environmental clearance.
In 2004 the MoEF asked SAIL to submit fresh application for forestry and environment clearance. SAIL, after conducting studies by IBM, Central Mines and Research Institute, Zoological Survey of India, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and others, submitted the application in 2006. After the government of Chhattisgarh forwarded SAIL’s proposal for forestry clearance in May 2007 to the MoEF, the ministry referred it to the empowered committee of the Supreme Court in around June 2007.
In relation to SAIL application for undertaking mining activities in Block F of the Rowghat deposits allocated to it, the Supreme Court Committee gave its final consent for forestry clearance during October 2008. The Supreme Court ruling was followed by final clearance from MoEF to SAIL with certain conditions requiring that SAIL would not set up beneficiation plant and tailing dam at Rowghat and would confine its activities only to mining, primary and secondary crushing in order to reduce the damage to flora and fauna.
Pursuant to which the Mineral Resources Department of Chhattisgarh government finally in October 2009 granted mining lease for F Block of Rowghat Mines to SAIL for a period of 20 years after getting the due Environmental Clearance and Forestry Clearance from the MoEF.
SAIL would now have to transport the iron-ore to its beneficiation plant at Dalli Rajhara located about 90 km from Rowghat resulting in increased capital cost as well as the operating cost.
Opposition to mining activities.
Maoist spokesperson Gudsa Usendi reportedly said during an interview in May 2011, that they were categorically opposed to mining operations in Rowghat. He is quoted as having said - "They [the establishment] are trying to squeeze us. The Rowghat mountains are very important to the ecology of the area and the Maria tribes who live there,”. He is further quoted as having said -"The adivasis did not benefit from the mines in Dalli and they will not benefit from mines in Rowghat


Crew Gold

Crew Gold Corporation was an international gold mining company that was focused on maximising the performance of its LEFA gold mine in Guinea. The company was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and secondary listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange with its corporate headquarters in Weybridge, United Kingdom. It has disposed of its interests in the Maco property in the Philippines, the assets of its Nalunaq gold mine in Greenland and the Nugget Pond processing facility in Newfoundland, Canada.
Further details Crew Gold Corporation past public filings are located at www.SEDAR.com.


Walter Frederick Ferrier

Walter Frederick Ferrier (1865–1950) was a Canadian geologist and mining engineer.
He graduated from McGill University's school of mining engineering. He was a tireless mineral collector and was known for walking straight into mining offices to request specimens. Consequently, he created large collections of mineral specimens of a quality still admired to this day. Many classic specimens would never be in collections had it not been for his effort and skill.
The mineral specimens he amassed were instrumental in creating the mineral collections of the Smithsonian in Washington DC, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, University of Alberta, and the museum particularly dear to his heart, the Redpath Museum at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
During one of his collecting trips he noticed a bladed mineral enclosed in chalcedony on the edge of Kamloops Lake in the Kamloops Mining Division, British Columbia, Canada. It turned out to be a new member of the Zeolite family of minerals. Subsequently, it was named after him - Ferrierite. The type material of this mineral is stored at the Redpath Museum and is part of a separate collection that also bears his name.


Upper Harz Water Tunnels

The Upper Harz Water Tunnels (, ) are part of the Upper Harz Water Regale - a network of reservoirs, ditches, tunnels and other structures in the Harz mountains of central Germany. The German term "Wasserlauf" refers to the underground element (i.e. the tunnels) of the network of watercourses used in the historic silver mining industry of the Upper Harz. This network of ditches and tunnels was used to supply the mines with headrace waters for their water wheels from the 16th century onwards. In the system of the Upper Harz Water Regale there are over 35 such tunnels with a total length of about 30 km.
Construction.
Although explosives were already in use in the 17th century in the mines of the Upper Harz, tunnels continued to be hewn out by hand, that is with hammer and chisel for much longer. The reason was that there were difficulties in determining the right amount of gunpowder and fears that tunnels running just under the surface would collapse or that the explosive would produce fissures in the rock causing water to leak away. Almost all water tunnels were driven by counter-heading. Until the 18th century the miners excavated tunnels by following the weakest rock; this sometimes created a zigzag route that deviated significantly from the direct line. Not until the 19th century were tunnels driven in a strictly direct line using explosives.
The incline necessary to create a flow of water often amounted to less than 1 ‰ (in other words less than 1 m drop for every 1000 m of length). The profile of the older tunnels, that had been driven with hammer and chisel, was sometimes as small as 1.20 m high and 0.80 m wide. The newer tunnels, however, were generally 2 m high and 1 m wide.
Compared with ditches, tunnels had the important advantage that the water flowing through them underground could not freeze up. The tunnels were laid primarily to short cut the long ditch runs around mountains. Such cuts also produced a steeper incline (shorter distances descending the same height difference have a steeper slope). This raised the flow velocity and hence the hydraulic capacity of the watercourse. The disadvantage of tunnels was the high investment cost of building them.
List of working Upper Harz water tunnels.
The working tunnels shown in this table follow the order in the latest listing by Preussag, which is based on their use in the various power stations.
List of disused Upper Harz water tunnels.
"Disused" refers to all those tunnels that are no longer in service. Some of these are completely preserved; others, however, have largely fallen into ruin. The following list makes no claim to being complete.


Haraat mine

The Haraat mine is a large open pit mine located in the central part of Mongolia. Haraat represents one of the largest uranium reserves in Mongolia having estimated reserves of 227 million tonnes of ore grading 0.01% uranium.


Urupsky mine

The Urupsky mine is a large copper mine located in the south-west of Russia in Karachay-Cherkessia. Urupsky represents one of the largest copper reserve in Russia and in the world having estimated reserves of 365.7 million tonnes of ore grading 1.51% copper.


Deiniolen

Deiniolen (; ; ) is a village in Gwynedd, Wales, at the foot of Elidir Fawr, in Llanddeiniolen Community. Deiniolen has views over Caernarfon (7 miles away) and on a clear day, Holyhead Mountain and occasionally the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland, can be seen. The population of the electoral ward was 1,909 as of 2011, including nearby Dinorwig, with 81.2% of the population speaking Welsh. The community, Llanddeiniolen, has a population of 5,072 as of the 2011 census, the third-largest in Gwynedd.
Ysgol Gynradd Gwaun Gynfi provides Welsh-medium education for children between 3 and 11 years in the village.
The slate industry was an important employer in Deiniolen, but since the closure of the quarry in 1969, the economy of the village has been in decline.
Seindorf Arian Deiniolen.
Seindorf Arian Deiniolen was formed in 1835 by a group of quarrymen, and has now grown to be one of Wales' major brass bands. The band is currently competing in the First Section. Most recent success includes a third place at the National Brass Band Championships in 2015 and coming second at North Wales Rally (Open Section) in 2017.
Deiniolen Football Club.
Deiniolen FC was formed around the 1950s when the side was playing in the local Caernarfon & District League. After a year absent from the local league the team has reformed.


Confederate Gulch and Diamond City

Confederate Gulch is a steeply incised gulch or valley on the west-facing slopes of the Big Belt Mountains in the U.S. state of Montana. Its small stream drains westward into Canyon Ferry Lake, on the upper Missouri River near present-day Townsend, Montana. In 1864, Confederate soldiers on parole during the American Civil War made a minor gold discovery in the gulch, but the discovery of the sensationally rich Montana Bar the following year—one of the richest placer strikes per acre ever made—led to other rich gold strikes up and down the gulch, and touched off a frantic boom period of placer gold mining in the area that extended through 1869. From 1866 to 1869, the gulch equaled or outstripped all other mining camps in the Montana Territory in gold production, producing an estimated $19–30 million worth of gold (in late 1860s dollars). For a time, Confederate Gulch was the largest community in Montana. In 1866, Montana had a total population of 28,000, and of these, about 10,000 (35%) were working in Confederate Gulch.
The main boomtown serving the miners at Confederate Gulch was Diamond City (). During its heyday, Diamond City was the county seat of Montana's Meagher County, though today the area is part of Broadwater County. While gold production was at its height, Diamond City roared along both night and day. In their frantic efforts to get at more gold, the miners built ditches and flumes that extended for miles, and employed high pressure hydraulic mining methods which washed down whole hillsides and ate up the gulch floor. The hydraulic mining process left huge spoil banks in the gulch and eventually consumed the original site of Diamond City, which had to be moved to a new location.
By 1870, the gold supply at Confederate Gulch had been exhausted, the boom was over and the residents of Diamond City simply picked up and left. In 1870, there were only 255 people remaining, and a year later only about 60. Today hardly a trace remains of Diamond City or the other gulch communities. An unimproved road still winds up the gulch from the Missouri River valley and crosses the top of the Big Belts on its way down to the Smith River valley. Confederate Gulch, Diamond City and the Montana Bar remain spectacular examples of Montana's mining history, particularly the flash-in-the-pan placer gold mining camps common in Montana in the latter half of the 19th century.
Geology.
Confederate Gulch is considered its own unique mining district. The district includes the length of the gulch along with the upper tributaries of Boulder Creek, Montana Gulch, and Cement Gulch.
The principal rocks underlying the placer gold deposits of the Confederate Gulch district are the shales of the Spokane and Greyson formations, as well as limestones of the Newland formation. These are cut by diorite and quartz diorite dikes, stocks, and sills. Narrow quartz veins, found along fractures in the diorite and along bedding planes in the shale, contain most of the high-grade gold ore. Ore values decrease with depth, and few mines have been developed deeper than . In addition to the quartz veins in the shales, the diorite contains "low grade mineralized shear zones".
These Spokane, Greyson and Newland formations have been uniformly considered to be in the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup. In this classification, these formations would be much older than the overlying Flathead sandstone from the Middle Cambrian Period, and the division between the older Proterozoic rocks and the newer Cambrian rocks was considered to be a significant disconformity. New field work in the Big Belt Mountains suggests that some rocks mapped as the Spokane Formation are conformable with overlying Middle Cambrian strata, and are not part of the Middle Proterozoic Belt Supergroup but are part of strata that may be younger Late Neoproterozoic.
The rich placer gravels of the drainages were deposited during the interglacial stages of the Pleistocene epoch. Confirmation of concentration of the placer gold deposits in relatively recent times is indicated by the bones of mastodons and elephants that were dug out of the gravels. The distribution of the placer gold concentrations suggests that the common source of most of the placer gold in Confederate Gulch and White Creek was a series of quartz lodes on Miller Mountain on the divide between the two drainages. These gold-bearing quartz lodes were consumed by the erosion that produced the placer gold deposits in Confederate and White Gulch.
Initial gold discovery.
In 1864 and 1865, before the end of the American Civil War, Confederate soldiers arrived in the Montana Territory to prospect for gold. Many of the soldiers had been part of General Sterling Price's Confederate army, which had invaded Missouri from Arkansas in the fall of 1864. The campaign disintegrated after several critical defeats by Union forces. However, the remnants of the defeated army remained in quasi-official units of a couple of hundred to a thousand or so.
Pursuing these scattered units was costly, time-consuming, and dangerous business. After pondering the situation, the Union commander in the area, General Alfred Pleasonton, instituted a policy of amnesty, offering parole to the Confederates captured during the 1864 campaign if they would leave the combat area and travel up the Missouri River into the west. Pleasanton hoped that his policy for prisoners of war would also convince the remaining free-roving units to disband and prevent them from becoming partisan bushwhackers living off the land like Quantrill's Raiders and the James boys.
Fighting and perhaps dying for what many viewed as the lost cause of the Confederacy was discouraging. The offered parole seemed the better choice. Additional motivation came from rumors of rich new gold discoveries in the Montana Territory. Whether due to Pleasanton's policy or in spite of it, in 1864 and 1865 these ragtag Confederate units faded away, and a tough breed of Missourians began to show up in the Montana Territory.
In 1864, two Confederate prisoners, Wash (Washington) Barker and Pomp Dennis, were paroled and released at Liberty, Missouri to the owner of a steamboat bound up the Missouri River for the Montana goldfields. Steamboats had to make frequent refueling stops for wood to heat the boilers, but from Yankton, Dakota Territory to Fort Benton, Montana Territory (a distance of well over 1,000 river miles), hostile Indians controlled most of the country. The Indians had burned the few existing wood yards and steamboats had to stop and cut wood as they went. Rebel soldiers like Barker and Dennis could work their way to the Montana Territory by chopping fuel along the way.
The Missouri River was low in 1864, and Barker and Dennis only made it as far as Cow Island before low water forced the steamboat to unload passengers and freight. The freight and paying passengers were carted by team and wagon the rest of the way to Fort Benton, but the former Confederates were on their own. News had come down the river that a new gold strike had been made at Last Chance Gulch (present-day Helena, Montana), at the foot of Mullan Pass, but by the time Barker and Dennis walked there from Cow Island, the good ground was taken, no jobs were to be had, and the cost of living was high.
Smoke from prospectors' camps could be seen all along the foothills and so Barker and Dennis set out up the Missouri from Last Chance Gulch, prospecting here and there, living off the country. Here the Missouri was a large mountain river, cold and clear, bordered on each side by high ranges, with vast alluvial fans running out from steep gulches down to the river. Good color could be found in these gravels, but so far there were no rich strikes.
While prospecting and living off the country, Barker and Dennis were joined by Jack Thompson and John Wells, who had also been rebel soldiers. They eventually wandered into a gulch on the west side of the Big Belt Mountains. Late fall was at hand, and they determined to stay for the winter; there was a good creek and plenty of wild game. At one place near the mouth of the gulch, east of the creek, Thompson sunk a hole and found the first pay dirt, a piece of gold about the size of a grain of wheat. Prospecting up the canyon they found more gold in small quantities. Eventually they established a modest discovery of placer gold in gravels of the little creek, where a day's hard work could produce enough to pay for a few pounds of beans.
Naming Confederate Gulch and Diamond City.
The initial strike of Barker, Dennis and Thompson on the gulch in the Big Belt Mountains was small, but hard work produced enough gold so that word spread. Other Southern sympathizers showed up in late 1864, and the area became known as Confederate Gulch.
During the winter of 1864–1865, four log cabins were built equidistant around a large rock obstruction on the narrow floor of the gulch. The paths from cabin to cabin made a perfect diamond in the snow as seen from the slopes above, and so the cabins in the gulch were named Diamond City. The "city" part of the name was a joke, comparing this poor settlement of Southern sympathizers to the booming mining camps of Helena and Virginia City.
Discovery of the Montana Bar.
Diamond City and the associated prospecting camp grew slowly. In the winter/spring of 1865, many prospectors passed through Confederate Gulch, since it was on one of the few trails that led from the Missouri Valley up over the Big Belt Mountains to the Smith River Valley, where game was abundant and there was available land that could be farmed.
In late 1865 a group of newcomers arrived, referred to as "The Germans". They were led by an old-time Colorado prospector named Carl Joseph Friedrichs (1831-1916). He liked the looks of things and prospected up the stream in an area that later became known as Cement Gulch. The Cement Gulch area later became one of the richest discoveries of Confederate Gulch, but the Germans did not get down to bedrock and so they decided to move on to look elsewhere. Friedrichs led his group back down the main gulch through timber and sank a prospect hole in a clearing on a shelf up from the gulch floor, at the foot of a small tributary. In the prospect hole, the group literally "struck it rich". The tributary became famed as Montana Gulch, and the shelf became doubly famed as the Montana Bar of the Montana Gulch.
The Montana Bar was only about in extent, but it was one of the truly spectacular placer gold discoveries in terms of yield per unit area. The Bar was also unique in that the gold was not located on bedrock at the bottom of the gulch, but was in a shelf of gravel located up on the side of the gulch. The Montana Bar gravels were saturated with gold from the surface down to the bedrock, which was a dense blue-gray limestone. Depressions in the bedrock trapped gold, and when washed over by water, the gold in these depressions was so thick it could be seen from a distance as glowing metal. The gold-bearing gravel deposit was about deep in most places, but thickened to against the mountain.
The few acres of the Montana Bar were freakishly rich in gold. It was claimed that the gravels of the Montana Bar were some of the richest ever washed, anywhere. It was not uncommon to get $1,000 of gold from a pan of gravel and dirt, and this was at a time when gold was worth less than $20 an ounce. The record pan, according to witnesses, was $1,400, or roughly seven pounds of gold in 15 pounds (two shovelfuls) of gravel. At the first clean-up of the sluice boxes on the Bar, the riffles were clogged with gold. One week's production of gold on Montana Bar netted $115,000.
A popular legend grew up around the discovery of the Montana Bar. According to the popular account, the Germans were greenhorns, and did not know the habits of gold (being heavier than dirt and loose rock) to sink to the lowest levels of bedrock in a gulch due to the forces of erosion and gravity. In response to their earnest, repeated (and annoying) requests to the more experienced Confederate boys for directions to "the good claims", they were told (with a wave of the hand at the sides of the gulch) to "go up yonder". According to legend, they dutifully went "up yonder" and discovered the Montana Bar.
Gold production.
The discovery of the Montana Bar immediately generated frantic prospecting throughout Confederate Gulch and its tributaries. This rapidly led to a multitude of strikes.
Rich finds were developed along Confederate Gulch proper. Two miles up Confederate Gulch, claims in Cement Gulch proved very rich and productive. Prospecting up Montana Gulch new discoveries were made. Good placer deposits were found along Greenhorn Gulch and Boulder Gulch.
The Montana Bar strike motivated prospectors to prospect the sides of Confederate Gulch mining district. Gold is heavy, and the sorting process from water and glacier flow usually results in concentrations of gold down on bedrock along the gulch bottom. Confederate Gulch was the exception. Some of the richest gold concentrations were found in benches of gravel along the hillsides.
On the same hillside level as the Montana Bar the Diamond Bar was discovered. It was as rich in yield per acre as the Montana Bar, though not as extensive. Gold Hill and other gravel shelves at the same level along the gulch and its tributaries yielded good gold production.
The Boulder Bars were in Boulder Gulch. These benches rested on shelves of bedrock. They posed a special problem. The surface of these hillside benches were littered with large boulders even though underneath were well sorted stream gravels with streaks and pockets of gold. The underlying gravels were hard to work because the surface boulders settled in heaps as the underlying lighter gravel was carted away or washed away by hydraulic methods.
Within a few months after the Montana Bar strike of 1865 Confederate Gulch and its tributaries were an anthill of activity with gold miners swarming over the ground, digging and working on their claims.
Gold production, 1866–1869.
For a few years Confederate Gulch boomed. From 1866 to 1869, Confederate Gulch probably equaled or outstripped other Montana Camps in gold production, chiefly because (a) the gold was course and easy to get at, (b) water was close and (c) gradients were favorable to create sluice currents and dump disposal. These conditions also allowed the transition from simpler placer operations to more efficient hydraulic mining.
The initial strike on Montana Bar set records for gold production. The best of the claims along the shelf yielded $180,000.00, or about $900 per running foot of width. The total production from the Montana Bar alone is estimated at $1 million to $1.5 million.
Confederate Gulch proper was mined for a distance of five miles (8 km). When properly worked the Confederate Gulch claims were all rich. The rich stretches along the bottom of the Gulch were very rich. The gold production ran from $100.00 to $500.00 per running foot, and produced $20,000 to $100,000 per claim.
Cement Gulch and Montana Gulch were highly productive, but Cement Gulch was in a class by itself. Some of the claims in Confederate Gulch were true bonanzas. They produced more gold than comparable claims of the fabulous Montana Bar, though requiring movement of a much larger tonnage of gravel, boulders and dirt.
No one knows how much gold was taken from the Boulder Bars. Because of the boulders strewn across the surface of the bars, they were worked by many different operators, some mere pocket hunters and others operating with teams of men and equipment.
The gold production of Confederate Gulch created massive gold shipments from the gulch, starting with the spectacular production of Montana Bar. A single shipment of gold in 1866, representing a short run of gold bearing gravel through the sluice boxes weighed two tons and was valued at $900,000.00. In the late 1860s two and a half tons of gold were produced in a final clean up of the sluice boxes.
In September 1866 the steamboat Luella piloted by Captain Grant Marsh took 230 miners back down the Missouri River to the states. Between the gold carried by individual miners and consigned gold shipments, the Luella had a cumulative two and a half tons of gold on board, conservatively valued at $1,250,000. This was the richest cargo ever carried down the Missouri River by steamboat. The bulk of this gold reputedly represented production in 1866 from the Confederate Gulch area.
There are varying estimates of the total gold production from the Confederate Gulch Mining District during the boom years—1866 to 1869. The estimates run from $16 million to an estimate of $10 to $30 million. These estimates could fall far short of the total gold volume that was actually produced. The total production will never be known. Businesses which transported gold, as well as individual miners took out their gold secretly, in order to mislead highwaymen and prevent robbery.
All of the estimates of gold production are in 1860s dollars. In addition, this is when gold was worth less than $20 an ounce. Were the values of total production be stated in today's dollars, the figures would be much higher than the estimates.
A feature of Confederate Gulch is the abrupt jump into high production of gold in 1866, the continued intensity of the production through 1867 and 1868, and its abrupt end in 1869/70. Gold production from the Confederate Gulch mining district started at a high level in 1866 because of the sheer opulence of the Montana Bar strike. Production was maintained at a high level as numerous fresh strikes were made and brought on line. The intense utilization of hydraulic mining kept the production levels high from 1866 onward until the gold ran out in 1869/70.
Technical problems.
Along Confederate Gulch and on Cement Gulch the gold claims were rich, but they demanded a great deal of labor. There were large boulders mixed with gravel along the gulch bottoms. These boulders had to be moved. Cold water would flood the shafts and trenches. The hillside shelves, like Montana Bar and Diamond Bar were easier to mine, but even some of the hillside shelves had technical problems. Along the various Boulder Bars, the large boulders that littered the surface had to be drilled and blasted, or lifted and moved by rope tackle. These were dangerous projects.
Hydraulic mining.
Confederate Gulch saw large scale hydraulic mining. Hydraulic mining methods in Confederate Gulch used the force of water to wash down banks of gravel bars and terraces located on the sides of the gulches, as well as the beds of gravel on the gulch floor. The earth and fine gravel was then flushed through sluice boxes where the heavier gold was extracted from the lighter gravel.
Hydraulic mining was particularly applicable in Confederate Gulch because gold bearing gravels lay on terraces high up on the hillsides above the gulch. In addition, the water sources and gradients supported the development of hydraulic mining.
Water from sources high up the gulch were tapped and fed into flumes or ditches that ran along the sides of the gulch. The ditch/flume was kept at a much shallower gradient than the floor of the gulch. Eventually the water in the flumes and ditches was high above the mining sites down on the floor of the gulch. The water was then released from the high ditch down through several hundred feet of pipe, and emerged through huge nozzles that resembled small cannon. The massive jets of water from these nozzles reputedly had such force that they could smash down a brick building in one pass. The most powerful hydraulic hoses required six men to control.
Building the ditches and flumes that hydraulic methods required large amounts of capital. This brought outside investors into the business of removing gold from the gulch. They wanted the quickest return possible on their investment and they encouraged unrestricted use of hydraulic methods.
The powerful jets of water used in hydraulic mining washed down whole hillsides and simply ate up the floor of the gulch. The dirt and fine gravel was then washed through the sluices, and the silt was carried off down the gulch. The gravel tailings produced by hydraulic mining were left behind as spoil banks, piled along the bottom of the gulch for long intervals. Hydraulic mining methods and the resulting spoil banks obliterated all the remains of the original Diamond City, as well as the other small communities in the gulches. Hydraulic mining was very damaging to the environment on the gulch. It changed the appearance, geography and ecosystem of Confederate Gulch.
Later mining operations.
From 1866 to 1869 the miners swarmed over the Confederate Gulch area and skimmed the cream as well as took the milk. They got it all, or most of it. Nothing after that—neither the placer mining operations or the lode mining operations—even came close to the production in the boom years.
After 1870 some sporadic hydraulic operations continued in Confederate Gulch and its tributaries for many years. A company based in Milwaukee worked some old ground briefly in 1899. About nine years later, a company worked gravels in the lower end of the gulch using a Risdon dredge, but it shut down operations after three months when it found no values in the gravels. Placering continued off and on during the late 1910s and 1920s, with at least two operations in 1928; lack of water frequently hampered success.
Gold activity often works inversely to economic health. In the booming 1920s mining activity fell off. As a worldwide depression developed after 1928, gold production increased. The federal government moved to establish the price of gold, which rose to about $35.00 per ounce. The increased price of gold, combined with lower wages and material costs prevailing during the Depression, caused gold mining to become attractive again.
Dredging companies moved into Confederate Gulch in a big way in the 1930s, using power shovels and a variety of other equipment, including a stationary washing plant, dry-land dredge, and drag-line dredge. The best returns came in 1939 when two dredging operations recovered 2,357 fine ounces of gold. One company had 16 to 18 men on the payroll that season. A single dry-land dredge worked the ground in 1942, after which operations shut down for the duration of World War II.
The reported 1939 year's production of 2,357 ounces of gold was worth $82,495.00 at the then current price of $35.00 per ounce. This is but a small patch on the boom days of 1866 to 1869, when tons of gold were produced yearly from Confederate Gulch, and one week on the legendary Montana Bar produced $115,000.00 of gold at under $20.00 per ounce.
Lode mining.
Even before the placer deposits began to run out, miners were combing the Big Belts for the "mother lode"—that is, the rich emplacement of gold in bedrock which had, through erosion, produced all the placer gold found in the Confederate Gulch gravels. No rich "mother lode" was ever found. The general theory is that the mother lode was consumed by erosion and the gold was distributed into the gravels that lay along the sides and bottom of Confederate Gulch and adjacent gulches in the Big Belt Mountains.
Though no mother lode was found, there were some lode operations in the Confederate Gulch district but they never measured up to the standard set by the rich placer mines. The most important mines, including the Hummingbird, Slim Jim, Schabert, Baker Group, and Three Sisters, are all located along the divide between Confederate Gulch and White Creek, principally on Miller Mountain. Lode mines produced only $100,000 in gold, while the placers of Confederate Gulch yielded this sum one hundred and fifty times over. The Philadelphia Mill, with a capacity of 15 tons per day, operated briefly at Diamond City around 1889.
Diamond City: "The Most Spectacular of Montana's Boom and Bust Gold Towns".
Confederate Gulch and Diamond City were transformed by the discovery of the amazing Montana Bar, followed closely by the discovery of the almost equally astounding Diamond Bar. Gold was being generated and shipped in record volumes. Word flashed across the territory and miners poured into the diggings.
From a small collection of cabins and shacks Diamond City was instantly transformed into a crowded boom town that roared along both night and day. Satellite communities sprouted up on the Gulch—El Dorado, Boulder, Jim Town, and Cement Gulch City. At the crest of the boom ten thousand people lived and worked in Confederate Gulch, but Diamond City dominated the area, and when Meagher County was formed Diamond City was named the county seat.
Between 1866 and 1869, when Diamond City and Confederate Gulch had ten thousand people grubbing for gold, federal estimates put Montana's total population at twenty eight thousand. In these years, roughly 35% of Montana's population was working in Confederate Gulch.
Placer gold discoveries, like Confederate Gulch, attracted a diverse and cosmopolitan population. While many came from the Midwest and border states like Missouri, many also came from mining areas in California, Idaho and Nevada. Because they moved about so constantly, they cared little about background or status. The use of casual nicknames predominated over proper names. A roster of Confederate Gulch citizens could include names like Wild Goose Bill, Black Jack, Nubbins, Roachy, Steady Tom, Workhorse George, Dirty Mary, Whiskey Mike, and Lonesome Larry.
Placer gold strikes were "poor man's diggings". Placer gold is formed by erosion forces which slowly break down gold veins embedded in bed rock and over geologic time leave the gold in the gravels and sands of ancient or presently flowing river beds. The gold is in a natural state in the form of gold dust, flakes or nuggets. Such deposits required no special processing, except the hard grueling work to dig out and sort through tons of gravel, dirt, sand and boulders. Newly discovered deposits like Confederate Gulch attracted young footloose men, motivated by a desire to get rich quickly.
Towns that sprang up at placer gold strikes were jerry built, ephemeral and hectic places and Diamond City and the other Confederate Gulch communities were no exception. As long as gold was produced they boomed along. When the mining stopped, the prospectors left as suddenly as they came.
During the boom years, Diamond City seethed with excitement and activity. It provided entertainment and commercial goods for the miners and for the crews that labored night and day to build a ditch/flume for hydraulic work. When the ditch/flume was completed, full scale hydraulic mining began. At the height of the mining activity, between 1866 and 1869, hydraulic mining led to the displacement of Diamond City. The approaching hydraulic mining undercut the town, and spoil banks began to pile up against buildings. The merchants first propped their buildings on stilts. Eventually the stilts reached fifteen feet, and finally the town was simply removed to a nearby location in Confederate Gulch where it roared on with business as usual. Meanwhile, the hydraulic mining process ate its way through the former town site.
Mining production from 1866 through 1869 was intense—the rich deposits encouraged quick exploitation, and the shift to hydraulic mining kept production in high gear. This led to record production, but it also shortened the life expectancy of the community. In 1869 and 1870 the gold ran out and so did the population. They simply picked up and left. By 1870 the population of Diamond city was down to 225 people, and a year later only about 64 people remained; by the 1880s 4 families were left.
From nothing in 1864, and from a few cabins in 1865, Diamond City became the county seat of Meagher County and the center of most populous camp in Montana in 1866. Diamond City boomed along for 3 years until 1869. Then the party was over, almost everyone left and Diamond City sank not just into obscurity but into oblivion. Unlike other boom-bust areas, Diamond City did not even remain as a picturesque ghost town. The rapacious search for gold consumed Diamond City, and hardly a trace now remains. Reflecting this meteoric rise and fall, Diamond City has been aptly described as "the most spectacular of Montana's boom and bust gold towns" by the authoritative text, "Montana: A History of Two Centuries", by Michael P. Malone, Richard B. Roeder, William L. Lang, 1991, University of Washington Press, p. 67.
Confederate Gulch today.
Today, one can drive to and through Confederate Gulch on a passable but unimproved road. Confederate Gulch is unlike other boom and bust mining districts in Montana, because no ghost town was left at the site. The hydraulic mining during the boom years, and the reworking of the site since, has obliterated the sites of the earlier mining communities. Along the bottom of the gulch are spoil banks overgrown with brush. Occasional pieces of timber appear in these areas to show that once there were towns and buildings in the gulch.
One thing alone remains. On a cliff overlooking the Confederate Gulch and Boulder Gulch from the south is the graveyard for Diamond City and Confederate Gulch. About 65 people are reportedly buried there. This site is marked on Wikimapia.


Sukha Balka mine

The Sukha Balka mine is a large iron mine located in western Russia in the Sverdlovsk Oblast. Evrazruda represents one of the largest iron ore reserves in Russia and in the world having estimated reserves of 585.2 million tonnes of ore grading 58% iron metal.


Charles Thomas (mine agent)

Charles Thomas (1794-1868) was a mining agent and share dealer in Camborne, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. He was an advocate of deep mining.
Charles Thomas was employed at Dolcoath Mine in Camborne from the age of 12 and nine years later was made an underground agent. By 1832 the mine's previously rich deposits of copper ore were substantially worked-out and the mine was in danger of closing. Thomas believed that rich deposits of tin ore would be found below the lowest levels of the mine, and tried to persuade the shareholders of this without success.
However, in 1844, on the death of the manager, William Petherick, Thomas was appointed manager or "Captain" of the mine. Despite continued opposition from the shareholders, he persuaded a group of miners to work the lowest levels of the mine. These miners, known as "tributers", were paid solely on the basis of the ore they recovered, so the activity was undertaken at no threat to the shareholders. Good deposits of ore were quickly discovered and this helped Thomas raise the capital needed to deepen the mine further. In 1853 the first dividend was paid to the shareholders and Dolcoath went on to become the most productive tin mine in Cornwall.


Reko Diq

Reko Diq is a small town in Chagai District, Balochistan, Pakistan. It is located in a desert area, 70 kilometres north-west of Naukundi, close to Pakistan's border with Iran and Afghanistan. The area is located in Tethyan belt that stretches all the way from Turkey and Iran into Pakistan.
Reko Diq is a remote location in the North-West of Chagai district. Chagai is a sparsely populated western desert district of Balochistan. It is mostly low relief and thinly populated desert. The weather of Chagai ranges from very hot summers of 40-50 °C to very cool winters of up to -10 °C with less than 40 mm precipitation (winter rain and minor snow). It also exhibits periods of high wind and dust/sand storms which have a demobilizing impact on the local activities and trade. Access to the Chagai district is via the Zahidan - Quetta highway also known as the London Road.
According to the 1998 census the population of Chagai District was 202,562, along with approximately 53,000 Afghan refugees. The population of Chagai District was estimated to be over 250,000 in 2005. Over 50% of the people of the area are Muslims. According to Dr. Samar Mubarakmand (Member Science & Technology, Planning Commission of Pakistan) Geological Survey of Pakistan had discovered the Reko Diq reserves way back in 1978.
Reko Diq, which means "sandy peak" in Baluchi language, is also the name of an ancient volcano.
Reko Diq Mine is famous because of its vast Gold and Copper Reserves and its believed to have the world 5th largest gold deposit.


Jehoida Hodges

Joseph Jehoida Hodges (15 July 1876 – 13 September 1930) was a Welsh international rugby union player. He was a member of the winning Welsh team who beat the 1905 touring All Blacks. He played club rugby for London Welsh and Newport RFC.
Hodges, along with fellow Welsh internationals George Boots, and later George Travers is recognised with adopting forward formation play in scrums and line outs. Although forwards were responsible for these areas of play there was little defined tactics or specialisation before the early twentieth century. Hodges helped bring tactical formations and therefore a level of specialisation to forward play. He was described as a hard working and an excellent all-round player who could fill in at most positions, even on the wing.
International career.
Wales.
Hodges made his debut for Wales against England in 1899, after only his second season playing for Newport. Hodges played in three Triple Crown winning campaigns, provided forward resistance against the famous 1905 All Black 'loose head' and was part of Wales' first away win to Scotland. The later included a full on fist fight between the packs.
One of Hodges most impressive moments in a Welsh shirt was in the 1903 match against England. Welsh winger Tom Pearson had taken a heavy blow to the ribs by England's notoriously heavy tackler Gamlin, and was forced to retire. Hodges showed his famous adaptability when moved to the wing to cover Pearson's position and scored three tries in a 21-5 victory for the Welsh.
International games played.
Wales
Later career and death.
After leaving club rugby Hodges became a publican, first at the Salvation Hotel in Newport and then at the Park Hotel, Waunlwyd. Hodges died on 13 September 1930; his body was returned to his birth town of Risca where he was buried on 17 September at Cromwell Road cemetery. His coffin was borne by former Welsh internationals.


Koksay

Koksay (, "Kóksaı") is a copper deposit located in south eastern Kazakhstan in Almaty region around 230 km from Almaty. The deposit is KAZ Minerals Group’s third major growth project and was acquired in June 2014 for $260 million.
General.
The project is at scoping stage. It has an estimated production life of over 20 years with a measured and indicated mineral resource of 701 MT with copper grade of 0.44%. The estimated annual production is 85 kt of copper in concentrate along with gold, silver and molybdenum by-products.


Hishikari mine

The Hishikari mine (Japanese: ) is the largest gold mine in Isa, Kagoshima, Japan. The mine has estimated reserves of 8 million oz of gold and is being developed by Sumitomo Metal Mining.


Erica Smyth

Erica Lee Smyth (born 25 March 1952) is a Western Australian geologist, senior mining executive and chair of uranium exploration company, Toro Energy. She grew up in Geraldton, Western Australia and spent much of her early career with BHP and later Woodside Petroleum. In 2010 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Western Australian Chamber of Minerals—the first of its kind for women in resources. In 2008 she received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Western Australia and in 2012 became an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.
Early life.
Smyth grew up in Geraldton, Western Australia. Her father was an accountant, sailor and amateur fisherman and her mother was a midwife at a maternity hospital. Her first job was working at a crayfish factory, cleaning crayfish tails during school holiday periods. She did not discover geology until she began her Science degree at the University of Western Australia, where she initially focused on chemistry. She went on to complete a Bachelor of Science from University of Western Australia and later an Applied Master of Science from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
She has expressed gratitude to her mother whose work afforded her the opportunity to pursue a tertiary education. More recently, Smyth has supported disadvantaged women to pursue education through the Centenary Trust for Women, which also provides access to small grants through a crisis fund.
Career.
Smyth began her career with BHP (now BHP Billiton) at Newman in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Her later positions included 7 years as Principal Geologist for BHP Minerals and BHP-Utah Minerals International’s Beenup Project Manager for 4 years. She then moved to BHP Petroleum as their Manager Gas Market Development WA and later joined Woodside Petroleum as General Manager – Corporate Affairs. She has been a professional company director since 2005. She has likened exploration geology to detective work, and considers among her strengths the abilities to identify expertise and build expert teams.
While working at Newman she was evacuated by the Royal Flying Doctor Service for emergency medical treatment. She had undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes which threatened her life. More recently in her career as a scientist and business leader, Smyth has chosen to "put back" into the RFDS through her role as director there, and similarly to the Diabetes Research Foundation through her role as chair.
She is a past chair of uranium explorer Toro Energy, past chair of ScreenWest and past chair of science education organisation, [Scitech]. She is also a former director of the Australia Korea Foundation. She sat on several of the Western Australian Chamber of Minerals' committees in the 1990s and is a self-described advocate for the resources industry. She is a past member of the South Australian Minerals & Petroleum Expert Group which provides advice to the Government of South Australia's Department of State Development.
She is a member of Chief Executive Women, an Australian women's leadership organisation which represents over 300 of Australia's most senior female leaders.
In March 2017 Smyth joined the Advisory Board of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) as Chair.
Personal interests.
She has interests in the outdoors, visiting remote parts of Australia, amateur astronomy and is particularly passionate about science and science education. She also enjoys fishing, reading and watching theatre.
She also has an interest in the expanding human population and the pressure this is exerting on energy, water and food resources. She has justified her involvement in uranium exploration by expressing her belief in nuclear power being part of a necessary reduction in global carbon emissions."Clean energy (no CO²), nuclear (power), is part of the solution. It's not the only solution... it's got to be combined with all of the renewables and really new, smart technology and means of storing energy... but a lot of research is still needed in those areas whereas nuclear can be... an almost immediate part of that solution."


Heathgate Resources

Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd is a uranium mining company owned by the US-based nuclear company, General Atomics. Heathgate owns and operates the Beverley and Beverley North uranium mines which are located in the Frome Basin about north of Adelaide in South Australia. In 2000, Heathgate Resources established Australia’s first operating in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium mine. The company is based in Adelaide and is a sponsor of the South Australian Museum. In the South Australian Parliament, Heathgate Resources has been represented by lobbying firms Hawker Britton and Barton Deakin Government Relations.
Beverley mine.
Beverley commenced production in late 2000 and was officially opened in 2001. In August 2008, an extension to the Beverley Uranium Mines mining lease was approved. Since the Fukushima disaster in 2011, the Beverley mine has suffered significant financial losses. Heathgate claims to operate the "world's most advanced In-Situ Recovery (ISR) mine." The project's infrastructure includes a processing plant, two satellite plants, a power plant, airstrip and camp accommodation to sleep 180 persons. The fly-in fly-out workforce travels in two Encore jets, operated by Sharp Airlines. The power plant is gas-fired, has an output of 4 MW and was constructed by Leighton Contractors for a cost of $5.8 million.
Beverley North mine.
The Beverley North deposits were discovered in 2009 and mining was approved in February 2011.


Ib Valley Coalfield

Ib Valley Coalfield is located in Jharsuguda district in the Indian state of Odisha, in the valley of the Ib River, a tributary of the Mahanadi.
History.
In 1900, when Bengal Nagpur Railway was building a bridge across the Ib River, coal was accidentally discovered. The first coalmine in the Ib Valley Coalfield was established by Himgir Rampur Coal Company in 1909. Other underground collieries were opened by private operators till nationalization of the coal industry in 1973, when it was placed under Western Coalfields Limited. In 1986, it came under South Eastern Coalfields Limited and in 1992 under Mahanadi Coalfields Limited. With nationalization came the age of open cast mines. Ib Valley Coalfield operates three major open cast mines – Lajkura Opencast Mine, Samleswari Opencast Mine and Lilari Opencast Mine. Production of the field has risen sharply from 0.55 million tonnes in 1972–73 to 15.51 million tonnes in 2002–2003.
The coalfield.
Ib Valley Coalfield lies between latitudes 21° 41′N and 22° 06′N and longitudes 83° 30′E and 84° 08′E . It covers an area of .
According to Geological Survey of India, the Talcher Coalfield has reserves of 38.65 billion tonnes, the highest in India. Ib Valley Coalfield has reserves of 22.3 billion tonnes, the third highest in India.
This coalfield forms part of the large Gondwana basin that extends across several districts in adjoining Chhattisgarh.
Transport.
Ib Valley Coalfield is served by South East Central Railway. The main railway station for passenger traffic is Brajrajnagar on the Tatanagar–Bilaspur section of Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line. The area links to NH 200.
Construction of the -long Jharsuguda–Barpalli rail line is essential for transportation of coal from the Ib Valley Coalfield with a potential of 90 million tonnes per annum. Mahanadi Coalfields Limited will fund this project.


Umm Naggat mine

The Umm Naggat mine is a large mine located in the northern part of Egypt in South Sinai Governorate. Umm Naggat represents one of the largest tantalum reserves in Egypt having estimated reserves of 25 million tonnes of ore grading 0.015% tantalum.