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Mother Reef Mine (The)

Cononish, Eas Anie, Perthshire.

Mine.

The Mother Reef is a conspicuous quartz vein that runs up the south side of Meall Odhar.

Perhaps about halfway up the hill there is a very short (3 metre?) trial adit tunnelled into the vein. This adit would be one of the two on the Reef that are marked on Fig 14 (page 94) in GV Wilson (1915 and 1921). [See Meall Odhar Levels 1 & 2]

A massive vein of barren quartz can be traced in a south-west direction from Drochaid-an-Droma, near the north-west end of Sron nan Colan, to a point where it crosses a tributary of the Allt Eas Anie, about half a mile north-west of Coninish. Several trials have been made on this end of the reef, but at none has it been found to be metalliferous. Southwards from the exposure in the tributary burn the Mother Reef branches. The southern branch continues straight on, and is found to be metalliferous at a small trial made on the hillside, about one quarter of a mile E.S.E. of Eas Anie. The vein here is about 5 ft. wide, and consists of quartz containing strings of galena up to 2 in. in thickness. The northern branch strikes towards Eas Aiie. [Wilson, G.V.]

Fig 14 also indicates an open cast (roughly) at the same location.

Alternative Names: None recorded.

Notes: Given coordinates derived from BGS GeoIndex. Although close to the boundary with Argyllshire this mine is in historic Perthshire (within Stirling council area).

More information about the Reef is given on page 101 in GV Wilson (1921).

Hydrographic Feeds: None

Hydrographic Resurgences: None