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Coran of Portmark (iron trial)

Coran of Portmark, E of Loch Doon, Kirkcudbrightshire.

Iron mine (trial).

A vein of hematite is met with on the NW slope of the Coran of Portmark [Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland].

The following is noted in describing the saddle between Coran of Portmark and Meul. [J. McBain] "I presume that the pedestrian has got thus far with the intention in his patrol of the ridge, of taking a particular as well as a comprehensive view of his surroundings, for, in addition to the view, there are details at hand that may be considered not unworthy of his consideration. He has already seen evidence of the existence of lead in the rock formation of these mountains. If he will go down the declivity some hundreds of feet towards Loch Doon and proceed along the face of the hill towards Carlins Cairn, he will find proof that there is also iron. He will come upon the debris of the larger of two horizontal tunnels that were made a good many years ago driven into the mountain by an iron company prospecting for iron ore. They found a deposit of very rich heamatite ore, but they also found that the quantity was too limited to justify the laying down of a railway from Dalmellington, and the experiment never got beyond the prospecting stage. Even the layman can judge that the vein is of unusual richness by examining a specimen from the large heap at the mouth of the tunnel. A copious stream of most delightful clear cold water used to issue from the boring, but it has been blocked up and the water has ceased to flow"

James Murray's drive almost brought the iron industry to the Glenkens. In the 1850s, the Dalmellington Iron Company made some trial diggings on the Loch Doon side of Coran of Portmark and Black Craig, which overlook the lead mines of Garryhorn to the east. Here they found some rich veins of ironstone and dug out several hundred tons. To transport the ironstone to their furnaces would have required a building seven or eight miles of mountain railway. James Murray decided that the cost would be too great, so the railway was never built and most of the iron still lies deep beneath the Rhinns of Kells. [GreenGalloway]

Coran of Portmark iron mine NGR NX 503 938 near Woodhead, and Auchinleck. [Innes Macleod] The haematite mine, or rather trail shaft, at Coran of Portmark NGR NX 503 938 [for Dunaskin Iron Works?], is amazingly inaccessible.

Magnatite is a rare constituent of pan samples taken within the granite complexes of Loch Doon and Carsphairn or from sedimentary catchment areas. Hematite, in contrast, has a very wide distribution throughout the project area. However, if emphasis is restricted to occurrences where the mineral is common to abundant, as is shown on the accompanying distribution map for the mineral, it can be seen that within the granite intrusions significant indications occur only in some eastern marginal parts of the Doon complex. The most important hematite 'lode' known is that structure which can be traced for nearly 3 km from Coran of Portmark in the marginal tonalite facies of the Doon intrusion, passing into the aureole 1 km south and terminating in the source area of the Blaree Burn, 1 km west of Cairnsgarroch. This occurrence attracted mining interest in the past and unsuccessful attempts were made to work the ore. Possible southerly extensions of this or sub-parallel structures are indicated by the prevalence of hematite in pan samples from the Blaree Burn, the Polmaddy Burn, the Hawse Burn, the Altibrick Strand and some streams around Lath Dungeon. A breccia with hematite is exposed in the Hawse Burn [NX 5062 8602]. [NERC]

Alternative Names: None recorded.

Notes: Marked as Shaft (Trial) on OS 6" 1st Ed map.

The site is located deep within a large forestry plantation (probably inaccessible), although an opening in the trees at the locality is visible on satellite view.

Hydrographic Feeds: None

Hydrographic Resurgences: None