United Cavers Exploration Team

Location
SJ 287(74) 502(44)

Directions
From Coed Poeth, drive down to the Nant Mill visitor centre and park on their car park. Take the footpath upstream on the RIGHT hand bank on the stream/river.
You will shortly come to a bridge crossing the river. The Orange Leete entrance is here on the right hand side of the river (you have been walking alongside the leete up till that point)

Access
Open & Unknown

Suggested Equipment
Unknown

Length
Unknown

Flood risk
It is likely to flood to ceiling (see description below)

Mine Attributes
Presumably lead but with so much ochre, possibly copper and other minerals too.

Description
This is apparently named “Orange Leete Level” by the Nant Mill visitor centre which is a stones throw away and is probably unimaginatively so named after the colour of the sediment in the waterflow as it is orange (ochre).

The entrance height is no more than 3 feet and the depth of the water was 1 foot (on the 26th Sept 2009 when I was there).

Looking inside, it did not appear to get any roomier although it could be that the water becomes deeper whilst the ceiling height remains the same.

Certainly, initially, you would have to crawl in on hands and knees and there is not much head space for air. I would expect this headspace to VANISH in wetter conditions.

I have no clue of it’s length or to where it goes expect that it is in close proximity to the mines of minera.

Unexplored Passages
All of it is unexplored.

Digs
Unknown

Links
None Known

(https://test.anduin.org.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi80.servimg.com%2Fu%2Ff80%2F13%2F40%2F19%2F59%2F100_1541.jpg&hash=343bdf897f56e4d4843cd5068fba58d5c3687edc) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=1381&u=13401959)




(https://test.anduin.org.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi80.servimg.com%2Fu%2Ff80%2F13%2F40%2F19%2F59%2F100_1540.jpg&hash=b3754038c629726ad1898d1b681b2e78fba01a71) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=1380&u=13401959)




(https://test.anduin.org.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi80.servimg.com%2Fu%2Ff80%2F13%2F40%2F19%2F59%2F100_1542.jpg&hash=53355b92010bbb85c4d60ba19a542ae548f51bdd) (http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=1382&u=13401959)

This is the portal to Deep Day Level which drains Minera Mine supposedly three and a half miles long. The low entrance soon opens out to standing passage with chest deep water and knee deep ochre mud which gets less deep. A short distance in is a shaft covered over. The drainage level continues at walking height passing some impressively long roots which you have to carefully pass.Some really nice examples of cut and cover can be seen. Further you travel along the adit more build up of firm silt as built up till eventually your crawling on hands and knees in running water till you meet at wall of deads on your right with water issuing out which is believed to be draining Coedpoeth coal mine, at this point the adit is silted up to the roof with the running water forcing it's way through at roof level at roughly 1km distance from the portal. There wasn't any sign of bad air at any point, but on exit the river down stream had turned a light shade of orange!!