RESEARCH
Ecton Mine is now becoming a centre for scientific research. Apart from EMET involvement in the Horizon2020 UNEXMIN and UNEXUP projects, Ecton Mine is participating in a number of university-based and industry-sponsored projects:
- Study of ‘clumped isotopes’ by the University of East Anglia to use isotopic composition of calcite to determine temperatures of the hydrothermal mineralising fluids
- Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey of Ecton Hill to identify shallow underground workings as well as some geological structure
- Test of microseismic technology for locating moving objects within the mine
- Proposed study of muon flux detectors (Durham and Sheffield Universities)
- Tests of new gravimeters with potential for detection of ore bodies or voids (Glasgow University)
- LIDAR mapping and photogrammetric modelling of Deep Ecton adit and Salts Level
A presentation (given by EMET trustee Richard Shaw at the final UNEXMIN conference in Brussels, September 2019) on the archaeological and geological results from the Ecton trials of the UNEXMIN UX1-NATA robot.