Sandlodge Mine

Overview

Shetland's best-known and most productive metal mine, worked on and off for well over a century against a losing battle with flooding, unskilled labour and poor-quality ore.

History

Copper was discovered at Sandwick, on Shetland's south Mainland, in 1789, reportedly after a party of Welsh miners was brought in to investigate the ground. Serious shaft sinking did not begin until the early 19th century, working chalcopyrite, malachite and haematite. The Bruce family of Sumburgh, who owned the land, leased the mineral rights out repeatedly across the century to a succession of different entrepreneurs — among them Alexander Crighton, Robert Redman and John Walker — each of whom struggled with the same combination of problems: rising water flooding the workings, an inexperienced local workforce unfamiliar with hard-rock mining, inconsistent ore quality, and chronic underfunding, with more than one operator ending in bankruptcy. Despite this, Sandlodge is thought to have been the most profitable mine ever worked in Shetland, and is estimated to have yielded over 12,000 tons of ore across its working life. Mining continued intermittently into the early 20th century before the mine finally closed in 1929, by which point the east shaft had reached a depth of 275 feet (84m); the shaft was sealed with a thick cement cap in 1931.

Geology

The deposit sits in Old Red Sandstone rocks and comprises two north-south trending mineral veins, 3 to 5 metres thick and converging with depth, hosted in a gangue of ankerite, siderite and calcite. Limonite, haematite, malachite and some chrysocolla dominated the ore above about 30m depth, giving way to chalcopyrite and siderite in the deeper workings.

Workings

Ore was worked from vertical shafts sunk into the vein system, the deepest of which — the east shaft — eventually reached 275 feet before closure.

Closure

The mine was finally abandoned in 1929 after decades of only intermittently profitable working, and the east shaft was capped with cement in 1931 to make the site safe.

What remains

By the time of a site visit in 1999, virtually nothing remained above ground beyond the capped shaft near the shore; lumps of oxidising siderite from the old workings have since been built into nearby drystone walls.

A single capped shaft close to the shoreline, with waste mineral built into surrounding walls — otherwise almost no trace of the mine's buildings survives.

Recorded claims

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

• Copper was discovered at Sandwick in 1789; serious shaft sinking to work chalcopyrite, malachite and haematite did not begin until the early 19th century. ^1,2
• The Bruce family of Sumburgh, who owned the land, leased the mineral rights through the 19th century to a succession of operators including Alexander Crighton, Robert Redman and John Walker, all of whom struggled against flooding, an inexperienced workforce, inconsistent ore and underfunding. ²
• Sandlodge is thought to have been Shetland's most profitable mine and is estimated to have yielded over 12,000 tons of ore across its working life. ^1,3
• The mine closed in 1929 with the east shaft at 275 feet (84m) depth; the shaft was sealed with a cement cap in 1931. ^1,2
• A site visit in 1999 found only a capped shaft near the shore remaining, with waste siderite built into nearby walls and otherwise almost no surviving trace of the mine buildings. ¹
• Shetland's Geopark treats Sandlodge as the island's one serious attempt at metal mining and an economic failure even so, of a piece with the further attempts of the 1870s and the 1920s at a second mine at Garths Ness near Quendale. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Sandlodge Mine, Dunrossness, Mainland, Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK — Mindat
2. (secondary) Shetland's Mining History — The Shetland Times
3. (primary) Copper and nickel ores of Scotland. Area IV. Caithness, Orkney, Shetland and Fair Isle — British Geological Survey
4. (secondary) Metal ores and minerals — Shetland.org (Shetland UNESCO Global Geopark)

Record created: 20 August 2026 · Last researched: 10 September 2026