Case Studies: Honister Slate mine
One unique location. Two contrasting environments. Many great challenges.
In the heart of the idyllic English Lake District, nestled on the high mountain pass between two popular tourist valleys, sits Honister Slate Mine. Steeped in history, this centuries old mine is the last working slate mine in England. In order to survive a decrease in demand for English slate, the visionary Weir family diversified into tourist activities, offering Via Ferrates, mine tours and creating unique experiences like underground zip lines. With local slate now being more popular than ever, Honister is not only a thriving slate mine, but one of the top tourist destinations for thill seekers in the whole country. With two new exciting projects on the horizon, Gable Drones was approached to conduct a survey, the likes of which Honister had never seen before...
Mission:
The goal was simple, the execution less so. The client required a complete 3D model, both of the inside of the mine, and the surrounding mountain that contained it's depths.
With two separate inclines, the purpose of the job was to allow the head miners at Honister to begin linking the two mines, inside the mountain. A feat that had never been dreamt of before now.
Environment:
The mine is situated on a mountain between 375m and 650m above sea level. The tunnels, some 15km of them, descended deep into the mountainside, and at points required crawling, and climbing to pass through. Many had not been walked since the mine shut down in the 1950's, before it reopened. With our team being from a Mountain Rescue background, these hazardous environments are our teams bread and butter.
Approach:
A blend of technologies needed to be employed in order to achieve the desired goal. The outside of the mountain had to be scanned, in meticulous detail, from the air, which brought about it's own challenges. Situated on a complex cliff face, Honister has the U.K.s largest wire bridge, which serves to complicate matters when flying drones.
For the interior, due to it's tight spaces and lack of GPS, a different approach had to be considered. Following expert consultation from the team at Survey tech, a handheld GeoSlam device was selected for this unique task. Then, a week long exploration of the furthest reaches of the mine, on foot, traversing through the silent caverns of the past.
Results:
Using the latest in Point Cloud technologies, we seamlessly blended the interior and exterior, to provide a unique perspective into one of the most amazing environments in the country.
