ITV News Transcript and Photo Highlights30 Sep 2020 00:27
Now, a company's hoping it can find MILLIONS OF POUNDS WORTH OF GOLD RESERVES beneath Snowdonia National Park. Drilling has already started at the Clogau St. David's Mine near Dolgellau and our report Ian Laing has been to find out how new technology is driving the venture.
This is what going for gold looks like in the modern world of mineral exploration. In a famous old mine beneath Snowdonia they're using modern technology to search for what they believe could be RICH PICKINGS. [CLOSE UP OF JUICY LOOKING WHITE QUARTZ SEAMS IN TUNNEL WALL]
https://i.ibb.co/7kRQS3m/Quartz-Vein.jpg
Now, the history of mining here goes back around 150 years and in that time THEY'VE EXTRACTED AROUND 3.5 TONNES OF GOLD AND THE TEAM HERE BELIEVE THERE COULD BE A LOT MORE.
[Frangeskides] 'We're not only trying to reopen the mine here at Clogau, but we're exploring the whole Dolgellau Gold Belt, which runs for several miles past this site and so far we've explored about 9km only of about a 25 TO 30KM STRETCH OF A KNOWN GOLD BELT in our own country WHICH IS MASSIVELY UNDER EXPLORED.'
The gold mine here in the nineteenth century was of SUCH HIGH QUALITY IT ATTRACTED THE INTERESTS OF ROYALTY WHO'VE USED IT IN WEDDING RINGS SINCE QUEEN VICTORIA'S TIME. Back then the miners had to rely on their own instinct and hard work to find the gold. It was a tough life, but the new generation of prospectors can rely on modern science.
[Austin] 'I think the old timers took what was obvious, so WE'RE NOW APPLYING OTHER GEOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES that they didn't have available in those times. One of them as George said is diamond drilling. We can do exploration from their old workings and FIND PARALLEL VEINS. The last 50 or 60 years geological science has come on in leaps and bounds.'
Now this is what we're talking about. So this is from a previous period of mining. You can see the quartz and the gold. [FULL SCREEN CLOSE UP OF VERY GOLD RICH LUMP OF QUARTZ] Now this rock alone is worth quite a lot of money and sadly it's not a free sample.
https://i.ibb.co/g3r5gL2/Gold-in-Quartz-1.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/pXq8Zs3/Gold-in-Quartz-2.jpg
It's a painstaking process, but the current thinking is it will be around a year before any final decision can be made, but there is a long term vision.
[Frangeskides] 'We are very responsible operators. We do things properly and by the book it terms of regulations, but also want to bring something back to this community. So that's why we have this idea of an interpretation centre or museum that educates people about the history here and hopefully not just the history, but the present and the future'
So they know there's gold in them there hills, it's just how much.
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