Alderley Edge Cobalt Mine
1811 'A valuable cobalt mine has been discovered on Sir Thomas Stanley's estate at Alderley in Cheshire.'[1]
1964 'WHEN COPPER AND LEAD WERE MINED FROM ALDERLEY EDGE
..... By the end of 1810 the mines were closed. But, about the same time hopes of a new lease of life for the Alderley Edge mines came from a new and completely unexpected source. A miner with wide experience of continental mining accidentally stumbled across cobalt on an estate near the Edge. Interest was aroused. Surveys were made. They showed promise. Sir John Thomas Stanley let the lease for cobalt mining to Mr Plowes, of the Pontefract Cobalt Company in Yorkshire. He paid £1000 for it. The extracted ore was packed in tubes and despatched to Yorkshire for smelting. But history repeated itself. The Yorkshire company finally abandoned ALderley. Sporadic mining ventures for copper, some more successful than others, continued throughout the first three-quarters of century. In 1867 the Alderley mines produced 15,152 tons of copper ore, from which 301 tons of copper were extracted. This had a value £22,570. But 12 years later the final closure took place. .... [2]
The cobalt mine was recently rediscovered, and was featured on the BBC TV programme 'Digging for Britain' on 8 January 2022. The extensive workings have been thoroughly surveyed. It was explained that the mine became viable when imports of cobalt from Europe were restricted by the Napoleonic war, but became uneconomic after the war ended.