From the Birmingham Daily Post, 14th August 1882 On 17th June 1916 The Prestatyn Weekly reported a Ramble over Moel Hiraddug by Dyserth Field Club, led by Mr R.H. Day and Mr W.L. Hobbs. The article included:“There are several veins bearing iron ore in the form of Hematite, and one in particular which traverses the summit of the hill from end to end, containing small percentages of nickel and cobalt within the iron-ore. The members of the Club visited a large cavity at the north end of the summit from which this complex ore has been mined, and which had a certain celebrity at the time as the only place where these rare metals were being mined in the British Isles. About 1160 tons were obtained between 1870 and 1984, but the discovery of the Cobalt region in Canada, where these metals were found in conjunction with rich silver ores, rendered the local mine unprofitable. An average analysis of the ore gave Cobalt 2% and Nickel 7%. There are extensive excavations in two or three parallel veins along the eastern flanks, whence very considerable quantities of iron ore must have been obtained in by-gone years. Pennant says they were worked in Saxon times.” According to another source, the orebody (a well-defined mass of ore-bearing rock) had a length of about 23 metres and an average width of about 0.3 metres (with a maximum of 3 metres). The same source says the mine was worked to a depth of about 73 metres and a second vein was trialled to about 30 metres.
My thanks to Mr Robert Jones for initial information about the Cobalt Mine. PJR 20
