Vigra Mine

Overview

Vigra, on the opposite side of the Bontddu valley from Clogau, began as a modest copper mine in the 1820s and became, after switching to gold in the 1860s, one of the more significant producers in the Dolgellau gold belt — though its history is so entangled with its neighbour's that its own output was never separately recorded.

History

An application to work Vigra was made in 1833, and the mine operated as a copper producer, alongside the neighbouring Clogau mine, mainly between 1825 and 1845. Vigra switched to gold in the 1860s, working a continuation of the same St David's lode running through Clogau Mountain that made Clogau itself one of Wales's most celebrated gold mines. Following a bankruptcy in 1857, Vigra was jointly owned with Clogau between 1861 and 1867, before reverting to independent ownership; the two mines were frequently operated together, working the same mineralised veins running across the valley. Little further work was recorded after 1879, though operations formally continued until 1897, and a brief resumption followed the First World War before mining at Vigra petered out for good around 1910. Because the mine's output was so consistently recorded alongside Clogau's in surviving accounts, nothing is known today of Vigra's independent production figures.

Geology

The mine worked a continuation of the gold-bearing St David's lode of Clogau Mountain, part of the Dolgellau gold belt — a genuinely unusual, non-granite-related hydrothermal gold mineralisation within Cambrian rocks, quite different from the tin- and copper-producing granite orefields of Cornwall and Devon.

Geological setting: Hydrothermal Deposits (well documented example)

Workings

Vigra was worked partly in conjunction with the neighbouring Clogau mine, sharing the same mineralised veins across the Bontddu valley; underground workings included Jenny's Adit, recorded on surviving 19th-century mine plans.

Closure

Little work was recorded after 1879; operations formally continued to 1897, with a brief post-First World War resumption before mining ended around 1910.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• Vigra operated as a copper mine mainly between 1825 and 1845 before switching to gold in the 1860s; because its output was so consistently recorded alongside the neighbouring Clogau mine's, no independent production figures for Vigra survive. ^1,2
• Following a bankruptcy in 1857, Vigra was jointly owned with Clogau between 1861 and 1867 before reverting to independent ownership. ¹

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Sources

1. (secondary) Vigra Mine, Llanelltyd, Gwynedd, Wales, UK — Mindat
2. (secondary) Chapter 23: The Dolgellau gold belt — grahamhall.org
3. (primary) Jenny's Adit at Vigra Mine (BGS Mine Plans Catalogue) — British Geological Survey

Record created: 23 August 2026 · Last researched: 23 August 2026