EMET: Ecton Mine Educational Trust
The Ecton Mine Educational Trust has been formed with the principal aim of promoting education in applied geology, mining and mineral extraction. Thanks to the generosity of Mrs Elizabeth Cox, the Trust is the owner of the relevant mineral rights of and the study centre at the 18th century Ecton Copper Mines in the Peak District National Park.
The Trust provides the facilities for school and university teachers to run one-day or two-day field courses that introduce young people to subjects relevant to the minerals industry. Most such courses are run by the Ecton Hill Field Studies Association, a group of enthusiastic volunteer schoolteachers, as can be seen from our Calendar page. Their courses take into account the latest changes in the National Curriculum, and in the specifications for A Level Geology and Chemistry and involve both surface and underground geology, mineral identification and mineral separation. A safe level underground area reached through an adit is used for part of the instruction. Ecton has the capacity for at least 800 students a year to take part in its courses.E
Located in beautiful countryside, Ecton is also interesting for environmental studies. The mine is available for other study purposes in line with the Trust’s objectives: to preserve, for the benefit of the public, Ecton Mine and all its shafts and adits.
The Trust has been refurbishing the buildings on the site, and there is an ongoing programme to improve the facities as funds permit. It is now named “The G A Cox Study Centre” in memory of Ecton’s former owner who worked for many years to make the minerals industry interesting and attractive to voung people.
Work has been carried out to secure 40 shafts and adits within the Trust’s mineral ownership of much of the Ecton hillside, most of which is Open Access land. These are fenced, fitted with warning notices and are regularly inspected. The Trust owns some of the land around the training centre, dressing floor, waste dumps, and around the Deep Ecton adit, by the riverside. It owns the mineral rights over a large area of Ecton Hill and is responsible for maintenance and safety of the mine workings in this area. It has also assisted landowners in ensuring the safety of some of the related mine workings on adjacent land.
The Trust would not be able to function without the support of its many volunteers who offer their valuable time to promote the Trust’s objectives.
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Ecton Mine Educational Trust is a company Limited by Guarantee No. 555044 and a registered charity No. 1112892
Commercial organisations, industry associations, professional institutions and individuals are invited to become members of the Trust. Please click here to email for further information.
The powder house, where dangerous explosives were stored. This small shed was placed well away from other buildings and was erected in 1884. The interior was originally lined with wooden panels as an added precaution against accidentally creating sparks.
was lowered on one side and it was converted to a field barn. The steam engine was located in the far half of the building, while its boiler was in the near half. A short distance upslope there was a small reservoir pond for the boilers fed by water brought up from the mine.
In the 1760s-80s the internationally important Deep Ecton Copper Mine made a fortune for the Dukes of Devonshire. The first copper was mined here long before, in the Bronze Age over 3,500 years ago. The Dukes, who owned northern and western parts of the hill, had their mines worked in-house for over 50 years from 1760. From the 1820s private mining companies embarked on a fruitless search for further rich ore deposits. The mines were finally abandoned in 1889. While the 19th century ventures lost investors’ money, with them at best only finding other peoples’ leavings, they kept local miners in work for decades.
Peter has nearly 50 years experience mostly at the sharp end of the minerals industry. He is a metallurgist who started in the steel industry prior to his degree at Cambridge University. He held senior positions with Anglo American on the Zambian Copperbelt, and at Glebe Mines fluorspar operation in the Derbyshire Peak District; and has been an independent freelance since 2000. He has had connections with Ecton Mine and Geoff Cox since the mid-1980s. He is Secretary of The British Aggregates Association, a member of the CBI Minerals Group and the UK National Minerals Forum; and has various business interests in the industrial minerals industry in the UK, Europe and globally; and is also a Director of MAUK (Mining Association of the UK) and Amemptos Music.
I am an exploration and mining geologist (C. Geol) with over 25 years of experience in the deep geological disposal of radioactive waste and 7 years of experience of exploration, environmental impact assessment and mining feasibility for the Kayelekera uranium deposit in Northern Malawi, Africa. I retired from the British Geological Survey in 2016 and am currently a member of the Government’s Committee on Radioactive Waste Disposal. I undertook a PhD on caves and mines in the Peak District and, as an active caver and mine explorer, have been studying the underground world of the Peak District since the mid 1970’s, including the mines of the Ecton Area. I am a director (editor) of the Peak District Mines Historical Society and the mine manager of their Temple Mine in Matlock Bath.
mongst geologists and others involved in the application of geoscience, particularly through the promotion of professional titles such as CEng, CGeol, and EurGeol. She has served on the Council of the Geological Society of London and is a past President of the European Federation of Geologists. For many years, she has been a member of the Pan European Reserves and Resources Reporting Committee (PERC).
Phil in Organic Chemistry, Nottingham Uni 1977-79, awarded 1981
I am a geoscientist with more than 45 years of experience. After working as a mine geologist in the Yorkshire Coalfield for 12 years, I moved on to seismic exploration for coal, potash and other minerals focussing on seismic interpretation and delineating geological structure to aid mine planning. My prospect experience includes projects in UK, Spain, Turkey, Australia, Africa, Argentina and Canada.
ng and engineering around the world. Although I am now retired I continue to hold Board appointments with national and international regulatory and standards organisations which I find professionally stimulating and thoroughly rewarding.