Florence-Ullcoats Mine

Egremont, Copeland, Cumbria, England

Florence-Ullcoats Mine was an iron ore mine in Cumbria which was well known in mineral collectors circles for producing excellent specimens of iron ores, including hematite, kidney ore and specularite – often occurring alongside baryte, fluorite, and calcites.

Florence mine was first sunk in 1914, and was combined with Ullcoats mine from 1917. It eventually closed in 1968.

It was reopened in 1969 and closed again in 1980. A group of miners from the site reinvested into the pit and opened it again, along with a visitors centre in 1992, until it was finally forced to close in 2007 due to the price of pumping the water out of the mine.

The Scottish Geology Trust provides an extremely detailed account of the mines geology, found below in PDF form.

The mine site now hosts the Florence Arts Centre, an unusual but interesting use for an old industrial site. Mining heritage tours are operated from the site from time to time.

Mindat lists 8 mineral species found at the site: Aragonite, Baryte, Calcite, Dolomite, Fluorite, Hematite, Pyrolusite, and Quartz.

 

Further reading:

 

 

 

 

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