Job for a gold miner!
IT is a management job offering a great opportunity for one successful candidate.
The National Trust is looking for a gold mine manager to run its Dolaucothi Gold Mines near Pumsaint in Carmarthenshire.
Although they no longer operate as working mines, the site in the Cothi Valley is a tourist attraction which runs guided tours for visitors who can pan for gold.
The precious commodity had been mined from the hills at the site since Roman times but the last time it functioned as a working mine was in 1938.
The Romans who exploited the site almost 2,000 years ago left behind a complex of pits, channels, adits and tanks.Mining resumed in the 19th century and continued through the 20th century, reaching a peak in 1938.
It is a legal requirement that the mine has a manager but the role is more one of overseeing the conservation of the site and further developing it as a tourist attraction.
Jacqui Kedward, the trust’s property manager for Carmarthenshire, said the mine closed when costs became too much to extract the gold.
“There is still gold in the hills, but the cost of getting it out was prohibitive.
“The site is preserved by the National Trust because it’s one of archaeological importance and still has the pick marks the Romans left behind.
“Historically the manager would be someone who would have organised the shifts and the extraction of the gold.”
The previous manager is moving on after more than six years.
Mrs Kedward added: “We’re looking for someone who has a great passion for working with the National Trust but it is also important that they can help develop Dolaucothi as a tourist attraction.
“The mines are a bit of a hidden gem so there is lots to be done to promote it as a tourist attraction.”
