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A conference sharing best practice and new approaches to

risk assessment in property conveyance and land development

Friday 30th September 2016

9am – 2pm, at Chi An Bobel, Heartlands, Pool, Redruth, Cornwall

To mark 25 years of Cornwall Consultants Ltd promoting awareness and understanding of

mining related issues in the South West.

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Programme

Time Title Author

From To

09.00 09.30 Registration Coffee & Networking

09.30 09.35 Welcome and Introduction

09.35 09.55 The Mining Legacy in the South West Tony Bennett, Cornish Chamber of Mines & Minerals

09.55 10.10 A Virtual Tour Beneath our Feet Dr Keith Russ Western United Mines Ltd

10.10 10.40 Mining Subsidence Appraisal: Searching for the Future

Dan Berriman Cornwall Consultants Ltd

10.40 11.00 Ground Instability: Engineered Solutions to Stabilise and Secure Old Mine Workings

Chris Massie Consulting Engineer

11.00 11.10 Q&A with Session 1 speakers

11.10 11.25 Coffee & Networking

11.25 11.45 Camborne-Pool-Redruth Link Road: A Case Study of Mining, Geotechnical and Contaminated Land Issues

Emma Blakesley CORMAC Solutions Ltd

11.45 12.05 The Mundic Problem: Principles and New Practices

Rachel Garside, Petrolab Ltd and Dan Berriman, Cornwall Consultants Ltd

12.05 12.25 Minerals and Planning Chris Tofts Stephens Scown LLP

12.25 12.45 Dealing with Land Contamination in Cornwall: The Local Authority Perspective

James Langley and Miles Randall Cornwall Council

12.45 12.55 Q&A Session with Session 2 speakers

12.55 13.00 Prize giveaway

13.00 14.15 Lunch, networking and Engine House Tours

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Abstracts

09:35 – 09:55 The Mining Legacy in the South West by Tony Bennett

Cornwall today is a very different place than it was over 100 years ago. For much of the eighteenth and nineteenth

centuries it was the most productive copper and tin mining region in the world, but nowadays it is difficult to

appreciate the full scale of this industry. There were over 2,000 mines active in Cornwall and West Devon at

various periods during the nineteenth century and during its heyday the industry employed over 40,000

people. Since the closure of the mines, the landscape of the region has been transformed by agricultural

cultivation and housing and infrastructure development. It is easy to overlook the impact left by the legacy of

thousands of abandoned shafts, hundreds of miles of underground workings and acres of despoiled

ground. Nowadays, in our drive for increased development in this region it is important to be aware of the

significance of this once prolific industry.

09:55 – 10:10 A Virtual Tour Beneath our Feet by Dr Keith Russ

Over the past 25 years Keith has single-handedly digitised a vast collection of mine plans and records showing the

layout of mine workings across the main mining districts in Cornwall and West Devon. He has created a 3-

dimensional virtual underground fly-through which offers an interesting and unique perspective of the ground

beneath many modern urbanised areas. A short video will show in amazing clarity, the extent of deep workings and

shafts modelled to date in the Camborne/Redruth Mining District and the complexity and density of the various

mines. It also contextualises the degree of mining at shallow levels, which was not usually surveyed and which

presents the main problem at surface today. The models are based upon plans held either in private archives or in

the County Records Office at Truro.

10:10 – 10:40 Mining Subsidence Appraisal: Searching for the Future by Dan Berriman

Mining Subsidence Appraisal in the South West has become a well-established process over the last 25 years.

Mining Searches and follow-up Mining Investigations are now standard services that are provided by several

recognised locally-based experts. Cornwall leads the way in Mining Subsidence Appraisal with more mining

searches completed for conveyance and development than anywhere else in the UK. However, this is changing.

This very localised industry is undergoing more substantial development than ever before. Dan will demonstrate

the advances that local mining search specialists are making to this process and discuss the improved outward

facing elements of the industry that benefit clients. He will also outline the wider reaching changes that are on the

horizon.

10:40 – 11:00 Ground Instability: Engineered Solutions to Stabilise and Secure Old Mine Workings

by Chris Massie

Risk assessments and cost-benefit analyses during design, and value engineering during construction, are beginning

to play a role in determining the extent and type of remediation that is possible. As the complexities of specific

project sites increase, it is natural to expect the complexities of investigations to increase, however the simple

solutions are still the best. Stabilisation or securing of old mine workings in the South West has become an issue in

recent decades due to deterioration of old mine workings, end-of-life of earlier securing works and the pressure on

available land for construction of new developments. This presentation reviews some of the traditional options

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available and the application of relatively new engineering techniques in the stabilisation and securing of the

mining legacy.

11:25 – 11:45 Camborne-Pool-Redruth Link Road: A Case Study of Mining, Geotechnical and Contaminated

Land Issues by Emma Blakesley

The CPR link road has been a project over 10 years in the design and construction. The project has involved the

input of CORMAC’s Engineering Services Limited (ESL) from an early assessment of the extensive risk from historic

mining activity, initial desk studies, geotechnical, mining and contaminated land investigations that evolved with

the various designs through to the remediation of mining features, geotechnical stabilisation of a tailings dam and

geotechnical advice and investigation for the structures and earthworks along the 2.4 km length of this

predominately new road. This presentation will focus on the investigation methods involved, the extent of the

mining remediation works and the importance that good communication and local knowledge had in the design

and construction process.

11:45 – 12:05 The Mundic Problem: Principles and New Practices by Rachel Garside and Dan Berriman

The discovery of mundic degradation can be a significant stumbling block in the conveyance process and can even

prevent a mortgage approval all together. We will provide an overview of the problem, a detailed look at the

analytical process and discuss the recent changes to the RICS Guidance Notes and the implications for home

owners. The presentation will illustrate what is being looked for at each stage of the Mundic Test in order to

evaluate whether a specific property is considered vulnerable to concrete decay and detail the multiple routes a

property can take in order to be considered mortgageable.

12:05 – 12:25 Minerals and Planning by Chris Tofts

This presentation looks at the tools used to protect minerals development and how these can alert property

purchasers of potentially incompatible development.

12:25 – 12:45 Dealing with Land Contamination in Cornwall: The Local Authority Perspective by James Langley and Miles Randall

Land contamination, if not dealt with adequately, can pose a serious threat to the health of the environment and

the people who inhabit it. The presentation describes how Cornwall Council identifies and deals with contaminated

land in the region, the most common form of which is a result of the former mining industry. The presentation will

consider the legislative options available to deal with land contamination and will discuss the key principles of the

management of land contamination and its relationship to brownfield development in Cornwall.

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Speakers

Tony Bennett BSc CEng MIMMM ACSM

Cornish Chamber of Mines & Minerals

Tony is a Chartered Mining Engineer who, since graduating from Camborne School of

Mines in 1980, has spent his professional career based in Cornwall. After graduating,

Tony became Technical Engineer for the Hot Dry Rocks Geothermal Energy project near

Falmouth, where he remained until 1991. He currently works for EGS Energy Ltd as

Operations Director for the proposed deep geothermal power plant at The Eden Project.

Tony also worked at Cornwall Consultants Ltd for 17 years undertaking risk assessments

based on historic maps and plans and compiling a comprehensive record of historic

Cornish mines. He is a Director of the Cornish Chamber of Mines & Minerals.

Tony is enthusiastic about Cornish heritage and for the past 37 years has been actively involved with the

restoration of Rosevale Mine near Zennor. He is also the author of a book on one of Cornwall’s richest tin mines,

Wheal Vor.

Dr Keith Russ PhD BEng(Hons) ACSM MCSM

Western United Mines Limited

Keith is the Technical Services Engineer at Western United Mines Ltd, who operate South

Crofty Mine, where his role includes survey control and updating working plans and

sections of the former South Crofty Mine. He is a twice graduate (Mining Engineering)

and former lecturer of the Camborne School of Mines and a past president of the Cornish

Institute of Engineers. Since 2001 he has worked for Baseresult Holdings and then

Western United Mines Ltd as part of the team trying to restart deep mining in Cornwall.

Keith has a keen interest in all things mining and especially Cornwall’s mining heritage.

Dan Berriman BSc (Hons)

Cornwall Consultants Limited

Dan is the Managing Director of Cornwall Consultants Ltd. He graduated with a degree in

Geology and Physical Geography from the University of Luton before gaining valuable

geotechnical field experience in Ireland. He joined Cornwall Consultants Ltd in 1997 as a

Geologist and since that time has been involved with all aspects of the business, from

desk-top mining searches, trenching and drilling site investigations, contamination and

geotechnical studies, through to commercial development.

Dan has considerable experience in assisting with mining subsidence risk appraisal and

claims and supervising the identification and remediation of old mine workings. He is

adept at communicating technical aspects of mining risk assessment, management and remediation to a range of

audiences, including engineers, architects and individual clients.

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Chris Massie BSc CEng MICE MIStructE

Consulting Engineer

Chris has practised as a consultant civil engineer in Cornwall since the 1970s and has a

wealth of experience of working on challenging sites across the region. He has been

involved with the assessment, design and supervision of major road and infrastructure

projects, strategic buildings, heritage sites, as well as sea defence and retaining

structures. Chris has an established local reputation in the application of engineered

designs to the remediation of mine workings and unstable ground. Notably, Chris was

instrumental in an extensive mine capping programme in Cornwall. He is also practised in

modified foundation design, slope stability assessment and sustainable urban drainage

(SUDS) schemes.

Emma Blakesley BSc MSc MCSM

CORMAC Solutions Limited

Emma is a Geo-Environmental Engineer in the Engineering Services Laboratory (ESL) of

CORMAC Solutions Ltd. She has worked for CORMAC for 9 years dealing with

geotechnical, contaminated land and mining issues, predominately on Cornwall Council’s

infrastructure of roads, public open spaces, offices and schools. She is one of a team that

between them have over 60 years’ experience of mining investigation and remediation

alongside geotechnical stability of structures and slope stability specific to the ground

conditions present due to the varied Cornish geology.

Prior to CORMAC, Emma worked for 5 years at Cornwall Consultants Ltd, undertaking Mining Searches, Mining

Investigations and Contaminated Land Reports and previously for Western United Mines Ltd as a Mining Geologist,

for 4 years, after completion of a MSc in Mining Geology from Camborne School of Mines.

Rachel Garside BA MSci,

Petrolab Limited

Rachel joined Petrolab as a Project Mineralogist in 2014 after obtaining an MSci Geology

degree from the University of Cambridge. Since that time she has been involved in all

aspects of the business, from mundic testing and assisting with sample preparation to

examination and reporting on a wide variety of materials, including aggregate, concrete,

rock and metallurgical samples. She has experience using both optical microscopy and

SEM analysis techniques according to the requirements of the job. Currently she is

responsible for the majority of the materials reporting at Petrolab, including all the Stage

2 Mundic Testing.

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Chris Tofts BEng, Stephens Scown LLP

Chris is a Partner and head of the Planning team in the Truro office of Stephens

Scown. Formerly a legal advisor to a Mineral Planning Authority and now employed by a

firm founded to serve the minerals industry, Chris has experience in mineral specific

planning and environmental matters. He advises mineral companies of all sizes, from small

start-ups to Imerys Minerals Limited and is instructed by operators and Mineral Planning

Authorities across the UK on matters from minerals Permitted Development rights to

ROMPs, EIA and Modification Orders. Recent highlights include acting for Wolf Minerals

Limited on their new tungsten mine and bringing a £multi-million Modification Order claim

against an MPA to a successful conclusion.

James Langley BEng (Hons) MSc MIEnvSI CSi ACSM

Public Protection, Cornwall Council

James is a Senior Officer in Environmental Protection at Cornwall Council. He has over 15

years of specialist experience as both a consultant and a regulator and has managed a

multitude of contaminated land site investigations and remediation projects. James is

highly experienced in all areas of land contamination management, including preliminary

risk assessment, human health and controlled waters detailed quantitative risk assessment

(CLEA, SNIFFER & EA P20 Methodology). James is a founding member of the South West

Contaminated Land Forum.

Miles Randall BSc (Hons) MSc CIEH,

Public Protection, Cornwall Council

Miles is an Environmental Protection Officer at Cornwall Council. He is a contaminated land

specialist with 5 years’ experience as a regulator and a background in the project

management of contaminated land site investigations. Miles has experience in all areas of

land contamination management including preliminary risk assessment, human health and

controlled waters detailed quantitative risk assessment (CLEA and EA P20 Methodology).

Miles is highly experienced in the peer review of land contamination information for the

Local Planning Authority, having dealt with over 400 applications in 2015 alone.

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The engine house at Heartlands

The engine house at Heartlands was built in 1903 to accommodate an 80” (cylinder diameter) Cornish beam

engine. This engine was built in 1854 by the Copperhouse Foundry, in Hayle, and was originally installed at

Wheal Alfred Consols, near Hayle. It was designed by the engineer Samuel Grose and cost £2,700, plus £700 for

the two 12 ton boilers that provided the steam. In 1864 the engine was sold and was moved from Wheal Alfred

Consols to Crenver & Abraham United Mines, near Leedstown, where it became known as ‘Pelly’s Engine’. It

continued working here until the mine closed in 1875, after which it remained idle on site until it was purchased

in 1881 and moved to Owen Vean & Tregurtha Downs Mine, near Goldsithney. After a few repairs had been

undertaken, it was started in early 1883 and was christened ‘St Aubyn’s Engine’. In 1889 its engine house was

gutted by fire, but surprisingly the engine was undamaged. It continued to work intermittently until the mine

finally closed in 1902.

The engine was bought by South Crofty Mine in 1903 to be installed on their principal shaft, named Robinson’s

Shaft. Now known as Robinson’s 80”, it worked continuously for 50 years, operating the pumps to an eventual

depth of 2,020 feet (337 fathom level) and delivering 310 gpm at an average stroke rate of 5 spm.

This historic engine finally ceased operation on Sunday 1st May 1955, when it was replaced by electric pumps. It

was the last operating beam engine to be used in Cornwall. Most of the former beam engines employed on the

metal mines in the South West have been scrapped, but this engine, with its chequered history of over 100

years, is one of only a few that remain in-situ and are available to view.