Lemon's West Shaft, Wheal Unity, St Day, Gwennap, Cornwall, England, UKi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Lemon's West Shaft | Group of Shafts |
| Wheal Unity | Mine (Disused) |
| St Day | Village |
| Gwennap | Civil Parish |
| Cornwall | County |
| England | Constituent Country |
| UK | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
50° North , 5° West (est.)
Estimate based on other nearby localities or region boundaries.
Margin of Error:
~4km
Type:
Group of Shafts
Köppen climate type:
Mindat Locality ID:
301072
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:301072:6
GUID (UUID V4):
f95b6978-99ef-4c9d-88af-554a391e728a
Although this location is correctly called Lemon's West Shaft of Wheal Unity, it is sometimes called Wheal Gorland by the English Government environmental protection body Natural England. In a bid to protect the minerals remaining in the mine dump the site was given legal protection and listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)in June 1988. The legal documentation for this process was produced using the name Wheal Gorland. The mineral vein worked from this shaft is probably the same one worked from Bawden's Shaft of Wheal Gorland which was just the other side of the road only 90 metres away. To collect from this mine dump you need permission from the St. Day Rugby Club who are owners of the site, the owners of the mineral rights for the metalliferous minerals within the dump and written consent from Natural England as protecting authority. The site does contain examples of exceptionally rare minerals such as Liroconite and Clinoclase but the dump is in a very poor state of preservation. Following the removal of the neighbouring dump associated with Bawden's Shaft of Wheal Gorland the attention of mineral collectors moved to Lemon's West. Some holes were dug by collectors but the real damage was done when contractors moved a large area of dump to expose the mine shaft for capping. The country rock is quite soft so the ground around the shaft was removed prior to a large concrete plug being created. The mine dump, layer of top soil from under the dump, country rock and any nearby rubbish was pushed back and the dump profile restored. The area was left to vegetate and the current status today is described by Natural England as declining. Minerals do not remain stable in the long term in this unnatural environment with humus present. The South West Branch of The Russell Society successfully negotiated permission from Natural England to rescue minerals by digging two trenches using an excavator 14-15th July 2017.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsDetailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Cassiterite Formula: SnO2 References: |
| ⓘ Clinoclase Formula: Cu3(AsO4)(OH)3 References: |
| ⓘ Liroconite Formula: Cu2Al(AsO4)(OH)4 · 4H2O References: |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Cassiterite | 4.DB.05 | SnO2 |
| Group 8 - Phosphates, Arsenates and Vanadates | |||
| ⓘ | Clinoclase | 8.BE.20 | Cu3(AsO4)(OH)3 |
| ⓘ | Liroconite | 8.DF.20 | Cu2Al(AsO4)(OH)4 · 4H2O |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | ⓘ Clinoclase | Cu3(AsO4)(OH)3 |
| H | ⓘ Liroconite | Cu2Al(AsO4)(OH)4 · 4H2O |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | ⓘ Cassiterite | SnO2 |
| O | ⓘ Clinoclase | Cu3(AsO4)(OH)3 |
| O | ⓘ Liroconite | Cu2Al(AsO4)(OH)4 · 4H2O |
| Al | Aluminium | |
| Al | ⓘ Liroconite | Cu2Al(AsO4)(OH)4 · 4H2O |
| Cu | Copper | |
| Cu | ⓘ Clinoclase | Cu3(AsO4)(OH)3 |
| Cu | ⓘ Liroconite | Cu2Al(AsO4)(OH)4 · 4H2O |
| As | Arsenic | |
| As | ⓘ Clinoclase | Cu3(AsO4)(OH)3 |
| As | ⓘ Liroconite | Cu2Al(AsO4)(OH)4 · 4H2O |
| Sn | Tin | |
| Sn | ⓘ Cassiterite | SnO2 |
Geochronology
| Geologic Time | Rocks, Minerals and Events | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phanerozoic | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paleozoic | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Permian | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Guadalupian |
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| Cisuralian |
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Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
British and Irish IslesGroup of Islands
Eurasian PlateTectonic Plate
EuropeContinent
UK
- England
- Cornwall
- Camborne-Redruth and St Day Mining DistrictMining District
- Gwennap
- St DayVillage
- Devon and Cornwall metalliferous mining districtMining District
- Cornwall
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