Klondyke mill

In the 1920s, the mill achieved notoriety as the scene of an elaborate money-making scam, when investors were sought for the Klondyke mine, which was allegedly rich in silver.

[1] Today the mill lies in a ruined state, a tribute to the false optimism of the time, and is believed to be the largest upstanding building associated with lead mining in north Wales.

[2] It is a registered ancient monument [3][4] and, despite its state of disrepair, is under the guardianship of Cadw, the only mine structure in the Gwydir Forest to be so designated.

The company had grand plans for expanding the production of Pandora mine, which already had dressing floors immediately south of the lane (between Llyn Geirionydd & Capel Curig).

Vehicle access to the mine was by a newly constructed road on the eastern side of the river Crafnant, as referred to by Francis above, and is now a public footpath.

Although there is no evidence of a bridge today, there would clearly have been one, laid with rails, connecting the mine entrance with the lower storey of the mill - a distance of only some 40 yards.

"Despite Francis' optimism, shareholders were unsettled; all the effort was going into developing Pandora mine and Klondyke mill, and there was no money being made yet.

In July 1902 shareholders were told that still no ore had been processed at Klondyke, but Francis was nevertheless still promising a bright future, and indeed production started in the second half of that year.

In 1903 shareholders were told by Chairman Edmund Pontifex that: "... the great delay which was unavoidably incurred in getting the dressing works [i.e. Klondyke mill] perfected prevented the practical testing of the stopes left by the previous owners.

It was never anticipated that great results would be obtained from these stopes, and it has, somewhat late in the day, been found necessary to discard them and push developments on into virgin ground.

The judge who considered these questions, observed: "It is impossible to look upon this as an ordinary business transaction of an advance against goods to be delivered.

[1] Pertinent to the Klondyke operation, this sale included the like of 100 tons of 18 lb flat-bottom rail, a petrol locomotive of 22.5" gauge, 25 side-tip wagons, and 800' of Henderson cableway.

The dressing plant on offer included a stone breaker and several jiggers, pulleys and belts, the contents of smiths' and carpenters' shops, telephone installations, drawing instruments, office and household furniture, and a pony and trap.

[1] The contents of the auction were bought lock, stock and barrel by a Liverpool colliery owner, who went on to form the New Pandora Mining Syndicate Ltd., registered in 1908.

The mill machinery was described as being modern and in full working order, with a turbine easily capable of dressing 1500 tons a week.

His scheme involved the use of the mill building and of the adjacent mine entrance, which in fact contained only a couple of prospecting tunnels of no great length, and where no minerals had been found.

[9] Aspinall would entertain prospective shareholders from London, paying for their first-class train fare and accommodation, and take them to see the mine and the mill.

On approaching the mine, he would give a friendly hoot on his car horn, which was, in fact, a signal for his "workers" to act their roles.

The entrance tunnel to the mine had previously been cleaned, and some 20 tons of lead concentrates (shipped from Devon) were glued to the walls, giving a sparkling appearance.

This was he said, for use in a new secret process, but was in fact used to provide some evidence of mined ore. Men guarded the entrance to the tunnel, and others ran around, giving an impression of great activity.

Holmes, whose suspicions were aroused by a number of factors, notified Scotland Yard, and Aspinall was eventually sentenced to 22 months in prison for having deceptively obtained some £166,000 from his victims.

[2] To the north-west of the mill building, on the dressing floor below the mill, lie the remains of buddle pits (stone-lined pits to clean and concentrate the lead ore prior to smelting), with the remains of buddle ponds - the dammed reservoirs referred to by Francis, above) a little further away, towards Crafnant road, from where the site can be legally accessed along a right of way.

The waste heaps of glassy slag on the west side of the main building are so contaminated with lead that even now, a century later, nothing grows on them.

It is thought to have been installed to use the chamber which the tunnel led to as a "slate-slurry" pit, with the waste being dumped down an air shaft.

[10] The route of the tramway from Pandora mine can be seen running down the hill on and embankment on the southern side of the Capel Curig road and the stream.