Mines in Orkney

Orkney's mining history is really a history of quarrying — flagstone and millstone cut from the islands' hard Devonian sandstones since prehistory — with one strange exception: a 1970s discovery of uranium-bearing rock near Stromness that came within a planning decision of becoming Scotland's only working uranium mine, and was stopped by the islanders themselves.

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Record created: 24 August 2026 · Last researched: 24 August 2026