Lower tailings dam and lagoon
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Lower tailings dam and lagoon by Jonathan Wilkins as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Lower tailings dam and lagoon
Image: © Jonathan Wilkins Taken: 20 Sep 2019
This is a wonderful location, just west of the tunnels which carry the by-way and river beneath the Chacewater branch of the railway as it crosses the valley. The river, which is in a culvert, emerges into fresh air after passing beneath the tailings lagoons, and the lowest lagoon (dry in this image) is used to regulate water which collects and passes through the upper lagoons. The water which fills this lagoon is loaded with the acidic, iron-rich water which results from the oxidation of sulphide ores. The result is precipitation of iron hydroxides, or ochre, which also carry a toxic mixture of other metals and arsenic from the residual ores in the lagoons. Ochre works were just one of the industries that populated the valley in its mining heyday.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
50.2385
Longitude
-5.156418