Klondyke mill
Coordinates: 53°08′31.75″N 3°50′51.82″W / 53.1421528°N 3.8477278°W
Klondyke Mill was an ore processing mill on the edge of the Gwydir Forest, near Trefriw, north Wales.
Constructed in 1900, the mill was built to receive lead ore (and some zinc ore) from Pandora mine, some 2 miles away - with which its history is inextricably linked - this ore travelling along a tramway which followed the eastern shore of Llyn Geirionydd. The mill saw little usage; Pandora mine was never profitable after construction of the mill, and the mine ceased operation in 1905. Klondyke mill itself closed in 1911 after having a short succession of optimistic owners.
In the 1920s the mill achieved notoriety as the scene of an elaborate money-making scam, when investors were sought for the Klondyke mine, which was allegedly rich in silver. It is this scam which gives the mill it its current name; during its years of operation it was initially known as Geirionydd Mill, then as the New Pandora Lead Works.
Today the mill lies in a ruined state, a tribute to the false optimism of the time, and is believed to be the largest upstanding building associated with lead mining in north Wales. It is a registered ancient monument and, despite its state of disrepair, is under the guardianship of Cadw, the only mine structure in the Gwydir Forest to be so designated.
The mill was built by the Welsh Crown Spelter Company, formed in 1899, and a subsidiary company of the English Crown Spelter Company (formed in 1883). (Quite simply, the English Company was involved in zinc smelting, for which it required large quantities of blende. To get supplies of this, the Welsh company was formed, which received assistance from the English Company in the shape of advances on loan. The Welsh company worked a number of mines in the area, having purchased them from previous owners, notably what is today most-commonly known as Pandora mine (though known successively as Willoughby Lead Mine, Welsh Foxdale Lead Mine, and New Pandora Lead Mine), which lies about 1.5 miles south-south-east. The company also developed the small mine known as Klondyke, adjacent to where the mill was built.
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