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Mapping Hydrological Pathways at Nantymwyn Lead Mine / AARON TODD
Swansea University Author: AARON TODD
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PDF | E-Thesis – open access
Copyright: the author, Aaron Martin Lawrence Todd, 2025. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUThesis.71057
Abstract
Nantymwyn Lead Mine is one of over 1,300 known abandoned metal mines in Wales. It is ranked 11th in the top 50 highest priority metal mines requiring remediation. There is no legal obligation for the operators or owners of mines abandoned in the UK before 2000 to stop or reduce contamination from th...
| Published: |
Swansea
2025
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| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Doctoral |
| Degree name: | Ph.D |
| Supervisor: | Robertson, I.; Walsh, R.; Edwards, P.; and Byrne, P. |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71057 |
| Abstract: |
Nantymwyn Lead Mine is one of over 1,300 known abandoned metal mines in Wales. It is ranked 11th in the top 50 highest priority metal mines requiring remediation. There is no legal obligation for the operators or owners of mines abandoned in the UK before 2000 to stop or reduce contamination from them, and there is evidence that Nantymwyn has been contaminating the River Tywi with lead and zinc for over a hundred years, and likely centuries prior to that. In this thesis, water samples were collected from across the site over 13 months, and calculated the flow of water in the streams, to show seasonal variations in flow, and metal fluxes. Additionally, a synoptic sampling technique was used to gauge water flow and concentrations along the stream at a single point in time, showing otherwise undetected inputs and losses of water and metals to the stream.Combined these methods will help guide future remediation of the site, by allowing efforts to be targeted where they will have the most effect. A water quality comparison was made to two other abandoned metal mines in Wales, Parys Mountain and Frongoch, showing that all three mines continued to contaminate unabated until extensive measures were applied to reduce environmental contamination at Frongoch. |
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| Keywords: |
Hydrology, abandoned mine, mine hydrology, mine waste, legacy mining, metal mine, lead mine, Nantymwyn, Welsh metal mine, tracer, flow gauging, salt dilution, synoptic sampling |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Funders: |
KESS II (Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships 2), EU RDF, NRW |