Rogerley Mine

Overview

A disused mid-19th-century limestone quarry in Weardale that became, from the 1970s, the only mine in Britain worked commercially purely for mineral specimens — prized worldwide for fluorite that glows an intense blue-violet in ordinary daylight.

History

The quarry at Rogerley was originally worked in the mid-19th century for limestone, burned as flux for the iron foundries at Tow Law and Consett; there is no record of it being worked commercially for lead or fluorspar. Fluorite specimens were later found by local collectors along the base of the quarry wall, and in the early 1970s the Cumbria Mining and Mineral Company — Lindsay and Patricia Greenbank together with Michael and Brenda Sutcliffe — secured the mineral rights and began working the quarry on weekends, eventually for around twenty-five years. The same partnership also ran the Force Crag zinc mine in the Lake District between 1982 and 1990. A portal collapse in 1992-93 required rehabilitation before work could continue. Lindsay Greenbank's illness ended that phase of operations, and in 1999 the American-owned UK Mining Ventures took over, rehabilitating the mine and beginning full-time specimen production. In 2017 the company, restructured as UK Mining Ventures Limited, opened a new working alongside the original mine on the same veins, named the Diana Maria Mine after Diana Maria Bruce, a director of the company.

Geology

Fluorite-bearing cavities in Carboniferous limestone within the Weardale orefield; Rogerley's fluorite carries an unusually high rare-earth content (yttrium, cerium and lanthanum), which is thought to be responsible for its intense fluorescence.

Workings

Worked by hand on a small, weekends-only scale from the 1970s, and since 1999 as a purpose-run specimen mine, extending the original quarry workings northward by tunnel.

What remains

Still an active, working specimen mine, the only one in the UK run commercially purely for mineral-specimen recovery rather than for bulk ore.

This is an active mining operation. It is not open to public access, and this entry describes its history and general location only.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The quarry was originally worked in the mid-19th century for limestone burned as flux for iron foundries at Tow Law and Consett; there is no record of it being commercially worked for lead or fluorspar in that period. ¹
• Lindsay and Patricia Greenbank and Michael and Brenda Sutcliffe, trading as the Cumbria Mining and Mineral Company, secured the mineral rights in the early 1970s and worked the mine on weekends for around 25 years, also running the Force Crag zinc mine from 1982 to 1990. ¹
• UK Mining Ventures took over the mine in 1999 and began full-time specimen production; in 2017, as UK Mining Ventures Limited, it opened the adjoining Diana Maria Mine on the same veins, named after director Diana Maria Bruce. ^1,2
• Rogerley fluorite is unusual in fluorescing intensely blue-violet even in ordinary daylight, not just under ultraviolet light, a property linked to its elevated rare-earth content. ²

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) The Rogerley Mine, Weardale - A Condensed History — Mineraltown.com
2. (secondary) Fluorite Specimen Mining, Frosterley, Weardale, England — UK Mining Ventures

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 27 August 2026