White Rock Copperworks EarthCache
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An Earthcache to introduce you to Swansea's Copperopolis.
Background Information
During the 150 years leading up to the 1920s, the lower valley of the River Tawe became one of the most heavily industrialised areas in the world and the world’s foremost producer of copper. This area became known as Copperopolis as many made their fortunes in copper here.
Swansea had no copper ore but this area did have coal. Since the smelting process used three times as much coal as ore, it made economic sense to move the ore to the coal rather than vice versa. The South Wales Coalfield included a number of easily accessible coal and anthracite seams which were close to the surface and easy to extract therefore copper ore was brought to Swansea from first Devon and Cornwall and later ports as far away as Australia and Chile.
In addition Swansea had a navigable river, very high tidal ranges and safe anchorage for even the largest of ships. This allowed profitable business to be conducted, in part from maximising economies of scale, as copper ore was shipped in and copper products (sheet copper, tinplate, alum, etc) were shipped out.
Swansea had already become a town of significant size meaning that sufficient labour could be found to man the many factories and smelting houses that grew up around the Tawe. Soon leading entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers were drawn to Swansea resulting in innovation and further growth of the copper industry and of Swansea. In 1801 the population was 6,000 but by 1881 it had shot to over 65,000.
By the beginning of the 1900s, serious decline in the industry saw the copperworks closing and the area becoming abandoned. In the 1960s work was began to decontaminate the ground and all but the most significant buildings were cleared.
Earth Science Lesson
The by-product of smelting copper is known as slag. As ore is heated and melts, impurities in the rock rise to the surface and can be removed. This is discarded, cools and hardens. It is known as a pseudo-igneous rock. Some slag was used as a building material for subsequent buildings, some was removed and used for the foundations of roads and some small pieces remain on site.
Slag can be black or grey (sometimes with redish tones). Some slag includes glassy sections or iridescent parts which show the colours of the rainbow. The slag from copper smelting may look verdigris as tiny parts of copper still present oxidize and turn green. Slag is sometimes mistaken for meteorites because it is often covered in deep bubble holes. Some examples of slag are sharp and angular while other examples show melting and flowing patterns similar to hardened lava. In some places it is known as clinker; drop some onto a hard surface and you will witness the sound from which the nickname is taken.
The Future
Today organisations such as the Friends of White Rock Copperworks and the Friends of Hafod Copperworks, as well as the university and museum have begun action to turn the Copperopolis into a world class heritage site. Geocachers have been involved with maintaining the site through a series of CITO events.
Worth a Look
On your way to the published co-ordinates, use the additional way points to have a look at some of the copperworks features that remain today.
In order to log this Earthcache as a find you must visit the location and use what you see in combination with the information given to answer the questions below. Send your answers in a message or email through my GC.com profile, ensuring that you tick the box to let me reply to your email. Please send your answers before you log the cache.
1a) Observe: At the published co-ordinates and immediate area, examine the rocks lying around your feet. Some are distinctive (See photo examples; these are of the rock in buildings but you are looking for rocks on the ground). What are they made of? (The answers is not bricks; brick is not a type of rock)
1b) Observe: Move to the way point for question 1b. Again, examine the rocks at ground level. Do you see the same type of rocks?
2) Describe: Tell me about the colour, size, texture and distribution of these special rocks (particularly comparing the two locations).
3) Explain: Using what you know about this area, explain how this type of rock got here and why is it distributed the way it is.
Feel free to upload images of your visit to White Rock but please avoid giving away the answers.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)