, both at the University of Lincoln, UK, who are studying how this mine – and others like it around the world – are contributing to river pollution in the modern day.
Macklin is exploring how wilder, wetter weather caused by climate change is dredging toxins like lead and mercury discharged by the mine back to the surface. Often, it’s not the mine sites themselves that are the problem. Over hundreds of years, waste material has been washed downstream and accumulated in riverbanks and floodplains, where humans and livestock now live. Remobilising this material can leave grazing livestock vulnerable to contamination, he says.
The UK alone is home to thousands of abandoned mines scattered across the country. These ruined outposts may look like they belong in the history books. Yet as this short film uncovers, they are at the heart of a modern pollution problem that could threaten our rivers, our livestock and even human health.