WELSH GOLD GETS BACK ITS SPARKLE
The mine that yielded the nugget used to make wedding bands for royal brides including Princess Diana is to reopen after 20 years
IT WAS the largest and most profitable mine in what they called the “Welsh Gold Rush”. In the 19th century the Clogau St David’s mine in Bontddu, Snowdonia, was at the centre of a frenzy of gold mining activity in Wales that stretched across a 46-square-mile area known as the Dolgellau Gold Belt in the mountains.
Before the mine was closed in 1998 gold from Clogau St David’s became some of the most valuable and highly sought after in the world. A single nugget from Clogau was used to create wedding rings for the Queen, Princess Diana, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, with Welsh gold further being used to craft wedding rings for Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles and in 2011 for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
It has also been used in the investiture of every Prince of Wales since 1911, with official regalia including the prince’s coronet, rod, ring and sword all incorporating Welsh gold.
Now, 20 years after production finally ceased at Clogau, it seems that gold fever could be about to strike Wales again. Mining company Alba Mineral Resources has taken a 49 per cent interest in Gold Mines of Wales Limited and plans to bring the Clogau St David’s mine back into production this year, with potentially spectacular results.
George Frangeskides, Alba’s executive chairman, said: “We are delighted to announce that we have secured a significant stake in the Clogau gold project… it fits within Alba’s strategy to identify projects which include former working mines which have both near-mine expansion potential but also have significant exploration upside in the wider project area.
“The opportunity presented by this project is pretty unique – high-grade gold in the heart of the United Kingdom, the fact that Welsh gold attracts a significant premium over spot rates, the historic connections of Welsh gold with the heritage of the United Kingdom, the potential for finding more gold in the vastly undiscovered exploration ground – all these are factors which make a strong case for investment.”
ALBA’S announcement follows a report estimating there could be as much as 500,000 ounces of gold lying untouched beneath the mountains with a value of anything up to £125million. It also comes at a time when speculation about whether Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will commission wedding rings made from Clogau gold is on the rise.
But if the news that Clogau St David’s is to reopen as a working mine heralds the beginning of a second Welsh gold rush, the first happened almost by accident.
In 1854 the Clogau St David’s mine was just another of the region’s copper and lead mines until its director noticed that among the ore being extracted was the unmistakable glint of gold. Not only did production immediately shift to exploit the rich seam they had unwittingly tapped into but as the scale of that seam became apparent, a host of other mines sprang up.
Prospectors and bigger companies alike all rushed to Snowdonia. Over the next 60 years, 24 major mines and 63 lesser mines in the Dolgellau Gold Belt produced 131,000 ounces of gold.
But by far the richest and most successful was Clogau St David’s, with 81,000 ounces coming from that one mine alone, quickly establishing it as Britain’s largest and richest gold mine.
But despite its initial success, as the seam was mined out finding and extracting gold became increasingly difficult and by 1911, even as Welsh gold featured in the official regalia for Edward VIII’s investiture as Prince of Wales, the Dolgellau gold rush was all but over. Clogau limped on as a working mine under a succession of owners but eventually fell into disrepair in the mid-20th century.
In 1989, however, after learning of Clogau’s history, local businessman William Roberts attempted to transform the abandoned mine into a tourist attraction where visitors could learn about the gold rush and even pan for the precious metal themselves. After the plan was vetoed due to its location in the Snowdonia National Park, Roberts hit upon an even more ambitious idea and reopened the mine itself.
Between 1992 and 1998, gold was once again extracted from Clogau – albeit on a far smaller scale. Roberts used it to create exclusive jewellery, initially sold from a gift shop near the mine, and then later as the company Clogau Gold of Wales.
But as the seemingly tiny seam dried up and the cost of finding and extracting the gold became prohibitively expensive, in 1998 the mine was once again closed: this time, it seemed, for ever. The result is that Welsh gold has become one of the most soughtafter precious metals in the world.
Alba estimates that due to its exceptional purity and rarity, as well as its royal connection, Welsh gold bullion is worth between three and five times as much as gold from elsewhere. As recently as November, an auction in Cardiff saw 60 grammes of Clogau gold sell for £44,000 – over five times its £8,000 estimate.
Perhaps the most intriguing thing about that sale is that the identity of the buyer remains a mystery. With a royal wedding planned for May and the Clogau St David’s mine to reopen later in the year, it could be that Welsh gold will continue to hold a special place in our culture for some time yet.