Pave York Mine, Greenburn Valley, Coniston, South Lakeland, Cumbria, England, UKi

Regional Level Types
Pave York Mine	Mine
Greenburn Valley	Valley
Coniston	Civil Parish
South Lakeland	District
Cumbria	County
England	Constituent Country
UK	Country

The Pave York Mine (also Pave York Levels, or Pave York Vein) worked veins of copper ore at an altitude of nearly 1,400 ft (427 m) and was an extension of the Greenburn Mine. Unlike the Greenburn Mine down in the valley, the Pave York site worked Cuprite - ores of copper oxide. Copper could be extracted relatively easily from Cuprite ore by ‘digestion’ with dilute sulphuric acid solutions without the need for need for subsequent costly smelting. In the first few years of the twentieth century large stone acid tanks for acid treatment were installed at the Greenburn Mine. To help transport ore down to Greenburn from Pave York workings, a 600 ft (183 m) counterbalanced inclined railway ran down the slopes of Wetherlam directly to the Greenburn site. Mining continued through the First World War, but the whole site was eventually abandoned in 1917. Since closure, the Greenburn Mine with all of its associated extensions and workings has remained largely intact, with the wheel pits, dressing floors and buildings being well-preserved.

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