11/06/2026
On Friday June 5, 2026, the board of UK Mining Ventures Ltd took the difficult decision to close Rogerley Mine for good.
As there has been much speculation around our decision we feel that we should explain our reasoning, and to reassure our customers that the neighbouring Diana Maria Mine is still fully accessible and currently extracting some of the finest specimens of green Fluorite that we have ever seen.
Rogerley Mine, as you will no doubt be familiar, was Britain’s first commercial specimen mining Fluorite operation, commenced in 1972 by Lindsay and Patricia Greenbank and Michael and Brenda Sutcliffe. They ran it until 1996. In 1999 UK Mining Ventures LLC took over the mine and operated it successfully until 2016, extending the workings northwards along the Greenbank Vein. In 2017, it was acquired by ourselves, UK Mining Ventures Ltd, and we commenced a second mine a few hundred metres to the north, called Diana Maria Mine. Both mines are separate entities but Diana Maria Mine, being the modern operation, is structurally sound with all of the workings having been developed by us.
Rogerley Mine, on the other hand, was beginning to show its age. The old adit into Rogerley Mine had become unsafe, and the ageing timber supports - some of which had been in place for 50 years - were deteriorating. For any modern mining operation health and safety is paramount and so, as operators, we would have had to invest significantly in structural supports and could not simply leave the mine open. This is especially so, with the temptation for trespassers to gain access in search of specimens. After careful consideration, and with Diana Maria Mine producing so well, UKMV Ltd made the executive decision to seal Rogerley Mine for good, pictured, thereby eliminating any risk of trespass, and allowing us to focus our attention on Diana Maria Mine.
Importantly, Diana Maria Mine also provides access via a drift level into the northernmost part of the Greenbank Vein in the Rogerley Mine sett and we have recently discovered excellent pockets through active prospecting in that area. It is specifically the old Rogerley Mine workings that have been sealed, but should we desire to re-explore the workings at a later date, a drivage south along the Greenbank Vein could achieve this.
We sincerely hope that this clarifies the situation and reassure our customers that the supply of Fluorite will continue.
