A fluorspar mine forming part of the Whiteheaps - Sikehead group of mines in the Hunstanworth area. Shut relatively recently and site flattened. Owned latterly by Weardale Mining and Processing, Ltd., but much development work done during the 1960s and 70s by the British Steel Corporation after taking over ownership from the Blanchland Fluor Mines Limited.
The veins in the area are rather lean of galena, but that which is present has a high silver content which contributed to making the mines commercially viable.
The veins worked were:
White Vein
Red Vein (Hunstanworth)
Shield's (Company's) Vein
Ferneygill Vein


Description below by Mr Mike


Whiteheaps Mine, Hunstanworth, Townfield, Durham.
OS Ref: Whiteheaps Shafts NY94674661, Whiteheaps Adit Level NY94914679, Skottowe Level NY94924672.

Whiteheaps mine is part of a wider complex that belongs to the Hunstanworth group of mines. Originally the mine was worked for lead and was owned by the London Lead Company from about 1715. The veins worked for lead were lean, however they did have a particularly high silver content, which made them workable enterprises. The London Lead Company was followed by a number of other companies, namely Easterby, Hall and Company (1807 - 1810) and the Derwent Mining Company (1810 - 1883) who further pursued lead ore. In the 19th century deep shafts (Whiteheaps Shafts and others) were sunk to the base of the Great Limestone for lead ore extraction. The Derwent Mining Company ceased its operations in 1883 and no further lead mining took place.

In the early 1920's the site was mined for fluorspar by Hunstanworth Mines Ltd and this was continued until 1932. During this period the fluorspar was obtained mainly from open cuts and subsurface stopes. Afterwards, in 1938 the Blanchland Fluor Mine Ltd took over production and supplied fluorspar to Scottish steelworks. Later on, a treatment plant was built and the fluorspar mining seems to have come from the reworking of stopes around the Whiteheap Shafts. When British Steel took over the site in the mid 1960's the mill was rebuilt to include a floatation circuit and the Whiteheap site was further developed. Finally in 1979 British Steel closed the site and a few years of inactivity followed. In 1982 the Weardale Mining and Processing Ltd started operations again and mined fluorspar until known reserves were exhausted. The mine closed in 1987.

Ferneygill, Ramshaw, Red and White are the main veins that Whiteheaps worked. These were accessed by a number of shafts and adits on multiple levels right down to the base of the Great Limestone. Most of the site has been landscaped and many of the features are destroyed or buried including the adits. Old OS maps refer to Low Whiteheaps and High Whiteheaps

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