View source for Mining in Cornwall and Devon

{{short description|Mining in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
[[File:Wheal Owles historic tin mine Cornwall UK.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Ruin of Cornish tin mine]]
[[File:Tinners gullies near Warren House Inn.jpg|thumb|Openworks near the [[Warren House Inn]], Dartmoor – looking down one gully towards a group of them in the middle distance, and more on the left side of the ridge beyond]]
[[File:Poldice Mine Gwennap Cornwall.jpg|thumb|right|Ruins of [[Poldice Mine]] in Gwennap]]
[[File:Waterwheel at Morwellham Quay.jpg|thumb|Waterwheel at [[Morwellham Quay]], once used to crush manganese ore]]
'''Mining in Cornwall and Devon''', in the [[South West England|southwest]] of Britain, is thought to have begun in the early-middle [[Bronze Age]] with the exploitation of [[cassiterite]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Carey |first1=Chris |last2=Tsoraki |first2=Christina |last3=Jones |first3=Andy M. |last4=Harris |first4=Oliver J.T. |last5=Crellin |first5=Rachel J. |last6=Lyons |first6=Peter |date=May 2023 |title=Beaker and Early Bronze Age Tin Exploitation in Cornwall: Cassiterite Processing Identified through Microwear and pXRF Analyses |journal=European Journal of Archaeology|volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=147–167 |doi=10.1017/eaa.2022.30 |issn=1461-9571|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Tin]], and later [[copper]], were the most commonly extracted metals. Some tin mining continued long after the mining of other metals had become unprofitable, but ended in the late 20th century. In 2021, it was announced that a new mine was extracting [[Lithium-ion battery|battery-grade]] [[lithium carbonate]], more than 20 years after the closure of the last [[South Crofty]] [[tin mine]] in [[Cornwall]] in 1998.<ref name="FastMarkets MB">{{cite news |last1=Belda |first1=Christina |title=UK produces first-ever battery grade lithium carbonate in Cornwall |url=https://www.metalbulletin.com/Article/3971238/UK-produces-first-ever-battery-grade-lithium-carbonate-in-Cornwall |access-date=27 April 2021 |work=FastMarkets MB |date=20 January 2021}}</ref>

Historically, tin and copper as well as a few other metals (e.g. [[arsenic]], [[silver]], and [[zinc]]) have been mined in Cornwall and [[Devon]]. Tin deposits still exist in Cornwall, and there has been talk of reopening the South Crofty tin mine.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tin mine aims to re-open in 2009|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7074562.stm|publisher=BBC News| date=2 November 2007}}</ref> In addition, work has begun on re-opening the [[Drakelands Mine|Hemerdon]] [[tungsten]] and tin mine in southwest Devon.<ref name="Plymouth Herald">{{cite web|url=http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Work-starts-multi-million-pound-Plymouth/story-20812821-detail/story.html|title=Work starts at multi-million pound Plymouth mine|work=Plymouth Herald|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> In view of the economic importance of mines and quarries, geological studies have been conducted; about forty distinct minerals have been identified from [[type locality (geology)|type localities]] in Cornwall (e.g. [[endellionite]] from [[St Endellion]]).{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} Quarrying of [[igneous rock|igneous]] and [[metamorphic rock]]s has also been a significant industry. In the 20th century, the extraction of [[kaolin]] was important economically.

==Geology==
{{See also|Cornubian batholith#Mineral formation}}
The [[intrusive rock|intrusion]] of granite into the surrounding [[sedimentary]] rocks<ref>Henley, S. (1976) ''Rediscovery of a Granite Dyke at Perranporth, Cornwall'', Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, XX(4), pp. 286–299</ref> gave rise to extensive [[metamorphism]] and [[Mineralization (geology)|mineralisation]].<ref>Durrance, E. M. [et al.] (1982) ''Hydrothermal Circulation and Post-magmatic Changes in Granites of South-west England'', Proceedings of the Ussher Society, 5(3), pp. 304–320</ref> As a result, Cornwall was one of the most important mining areas in Europe until the early 20th century. It is thought that tin ore ([[cassiterite]]) was mined in Cornwall as early as the [[Bronze Age]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barber |first=Martyn |title=Bronze and the Bronze Age |publisher=Tempus Publishing Ltd |year=2003 |edition=9780752425078 |pages=98}}</ref>

Over the years, many other metals (e.g. [[lead]] and [[zinc]]) have been mined in Cornwall.<ref>{{harvp|Barton|1963}}</ref> Alquifou (based, along with the word [[Alcohol (chemistry)|alcohol]], on the Arabic word "al-kuhl") is a [[lead ore]] found in Cornwall, and used by potters to give pottery a green glaze.<ref>{{EB1911|wstitle=Alquifou}}</ref> As a result of both natural and human processes, heavy metal contamination is present across much of the county, with [[arsenic]] levels varying in accordance with geological formations and their subsequent exploitation in the 19th and 20th centuries. Although arsenic has historically been extracted for use in paint, weedkillers and insecticides (most notably at Botallack in the late 19th century), it was generally a by-product of tin and copper processing. Arsenic and other unwanted heavy metals were often deposited in mine waste tips close to the mine from which they were extracted.<ref name="The Problem with Arsenic in Cornwall">{{cite web |last1=Jobson |first1=Daniel |title=The Problem with Arsenic in Cornwall |url=https://groundconsultants.co.uk/the-problem-with-arsenic-in-cornwall/ |website=Ground Consultants Limited |date=10 September 2021 |access-date=14 December 2021}}</ref>

==History==
Cornwall and Devon provided most of the United Kingdom's tin, copper, and arsenic until the 20th century. Originally tin was found as [[alluvial deposit]]s of cassiterite in the gravels of stream beds.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} Eventually tin was mined underground; the first designed tin mines being invented by Matthew James Bullen<ref name="nationaltrust.org.uk">{{Cite web|title=Ten things you probably didn't know about Cornish mining|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lists/ten-things-you-didnt-know-about-cornish-mining|access-date=2021-03-17|website=National Trust}}</ref> sprang up as early as the 16th century.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} Tin [[lode]]s were also found in outcroppings of cliffs.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

===Prehistoric period===

====Stone Age and early Bronze Age====
Tin is one of the earliest metals to have been exploited in Britain. [[Chalcolithic]] metal workers discovered that by putting a small proportion of tin (5 – 20%) in molten copper, the alloy [[bronze]] was produced. The alloy is harder than copper. The oldest production of tin-bronze is in [[Anatolia]] (modern day [[Turkey]]) about 3500 BC, but exploitation of the tin resources in Britain is believed to have started before 2000 BC,<ref name="French 1999">{{cite journal|last1=French|first1=C.N.|title=The 'Submerged Forest' palaeosols of Cornwall|journal=The 'Submerged Forest' Palaeosols of Cornwall. Geoscience in South-west England. 1999|volume=9|pages=365–369|url=http://ussher.org.uk/journal/90s/1999/documents/French_1999.pdf|access-date=21 March 2015}}</ref> with a thriving tin trade developing with the civilisations of the Mediterranean. The strategic importance of tin in forging bronze weapons brought the south west of Britain into the Mediterranean economy at an early date. Later tin was also used in the production of [[pewter]].

[[File:Map of Europe according to Strabo.jpg|thumb|Map of Europe based on Strabo's geography, showing the '''Cassiterides''' just off the northwest tip of Iberia]]
[[File:Open tinners workings Fox tor 2.jpg|thumb|right|An example of the characteristic pattern of parallel ridges and scarp left by tin-streaming, east of [[Fox Tor]], Dartmoor]]
[[File:Tinner leat in Trevelloe woods - geograph.org.uk - 81962.jpg|thumb|Tinner's [[leat]] in Trevelloe woods, Cornwall]]
Mining in Cornwall has existed from the early [[Bronze Age Britain]] around 2000 BC.<ref name="nationaltrust.org.uk"/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Penhallurick|first=Roger David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SIy0AAAAIAAJ|title=Tin in Antiquity: Its Mining and Trade Throughout the Ancient World with Particular Reference to Cornwall|date=1986|publisher=Institute of Metals|isbn=978-0-904357-81-3}}</ref>

Traditionally, Cornwall was thought to have been visited by [[Phoenicia]]n metal traders from the eastern [[Mediterranean]],<ref>Hawkins, Christopher (1811) ''Observations on the Tin Trade of the Ancients in Cornwall''. London</ref><ref name="Cunliffe 1982">{{harvp|Cunliffe|1982}}</ref> but this is uncertain. Timothy Champion observed in 2001 that "The direct archaeological evidence for the presence of Phoenician or Carthaginian traders as far north as Britain is non-existent".<ref name="Champion">{{harvp|Champion|2001}}</ref> In 2019, however, tin ingots found in a 13th century BCE shipwreck off the coast of Israel were determined by chemical analysis to have originated in Cornwall, UK.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Metcalfe |first=Tom |date=26 September 2019 |title=Bronze age tin from Israeli shipwrecks was mined in Britain |url=https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/bronze-age-tin-from-israeli-shipwrecks-was-mined-in-britain/4010404.article |access-date=27 February 2024 |website=Chemistry World}}</ref>

[[Prehistoric Britain|Britain]] is one of the places proposed for the ''[[Cassiterides]]'', that is "Tin Islands", first mentioned by [[Herodotus]].<ref>Histories, Book 3, para 116</ref>

The tin and gold content of the bronze from the [[Nebra Sky Disc]] dating from 1600 BC, was found to be from Cornwall.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1475-4754.2010.00515.x | volume=52 | title=Tin isotopy: a new method for solving old questions | year=2010 | journal=Archaeometry | pages=816–832 | last1 = Haustein | first1 = M.| issue=5 }}</ref>

Originally it is likely that alluvial deposits in the gravels of streams were exploited, but later underground mining took root. Shallow cuttings were then used to extract ore.

====Expansion of trade====
As demand for bronze grew in the Middle East, the accessible local supplies of tin ore (cassiterite) were exhausted and searches for new supplies were made over all the known world, including Britain. Control of the tin trade seems to have been in [[Phoenicia]]n hands, and they kept their sources secret. The Greeks understood that tin came from the [[Cassiterides]], the "tin islands", of which the geographical identity is debated. By 500 BC [[Hecataeus of Miletus|Hecataeus]] knew of islands beyond Gaul where tin was obtained. [[Pytheas of Massalia]] travelled to Britain in about 325 BC where he found a flourishing tin trade, according to the later report of his voyage. [[Posidonius]] referred to the tin trade with Britain around 90 BC but [[Strabo]] in about 18 AD did not list tin as one of Britain's exports. This is likely to be because Rome was obtaining its tin from [[Hispania]] at the time.{{Citation needed|date=November 2016}}

William Camden, in his ''[[William Camden#Britannia|Britannia]]'' of 1607, identified the Cassiterides with the [[Scilly Isles]] and first gave currency to the belief that the Phoenicians traded to Britain.<ref>Hawkins</ref> However, there is no evidence of tin mining on the Scilly Isles apart from minor exploratory excavations. Timothy Champion found it likely that the trade of the Phoenicians with Britain was indirect and under the control of the [[Veneti (Gaul)|Veneti]] of [[Brittany]].<ref name="Champion"/> Champion, discussing Diodorus Siculus's comments on the tin trade, states that "Diodorus never actually says that the Phoenicians sailed to Cornwall. In fact, he says quite the opposite: the production of Cornish tin was in the hands of the natives of Cornwall, and its transport to the Mediterranean was organised by local merchants, by sea and then over land through France, well outside Phoenician control."<ref name="Champion"/>

There is isotopic evidence to support that tin ingots found off the coast of [[Haifa]], [[Israel]] were supplied from Cornwall.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Berger |first1=Daniel |last2=Soles |first2=Jeffrey |last3=Giumlia-Mair |first3=Alessandra |last4=Brügmann |first4=Gerhard |last5=Galili |first5=Ehud |last6=Lockhoff |first6=Nicole |last7=Pernicka |first7=Ernst |title=Isotope systematics and chemical composition of tin ingots from Mochlos (Crete) and other Late Bronze Age sites in the eastern Mediterranean Sea: An ultimate key to tin provenance? |date= 2019 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0218326 |doi-access=free |journal = PLOS ONE|volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=e0218326 |pmid=31242218 |pmc=6594607 |bibcode=2019PLoSO..1418326B }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Woodyatt |first1=Amy |title=Ancient tin found in Israel has unexpected Cornish links |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/19/uk/cornwall-tin-israel-intl-scli-gbr/index.html |access-date=16 March 2020 |publisher=CNN|date=19 September 2019}}</ref>

====Diodorus Siculus's account====
{{Main|Ictis}}
In his ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'', written in the 1st century BC, [[Diodorus Siculus]] described ancient tin mining in Britain. "They that inhabit the British promontory of Belerion by reason of their converse with strangers are more civilised and courteous to strangers than the rest are. These are the people that prepare the tin, which with a great deal of care and labour, they dig out of the ground, and that being done the metal is mixed with some veins of earth out of which they melt the metal and refine it. Then they cast it into regular blocks and carry it to a certain island near at hand called Ictis for at low tide, all being dry between there and the island, tin in large quantities is brought over in carts."

Pliny, whose text has survived in eroded condition, quotes [[Timaeus (historian)|Timaeus of Taormina]] in referring to "''insulam Mictim''", "the island of Mictim" [sic], where the ''m'' of ''insulam'' has been repeated.<ref>As noted by {{harvp|de Beer|1960|p=162}}, quoting Pliny's garbled geography: "The island of Mictim in which tin is produced is distant inwards from Britain six days' voyage, and that the Britons sailed to it in [[coracles]] of wickerwork covered in hide." ([[Pliny's Natural History]] IV.104.</ref> Several locations for "Ictin" or "Ictis", signifying "tin port"<ref>"Diodorus referred to Iktin in the accusative case, from which some commentators have deduced that the nominative case was Iktis, but there is no evidence for this", remarks {{harvp|de Beer|1960|p=162}}</ref> have been suggested, including [[St. Michael's Mount]],<ref>{{harvp|de Beer|1960}}</ref> but, as a result of excavations, Barry Cunliffe has proposed that this was [[Mount Batten]] near Plymouth. A shipwreck site with ingots of tin was found at the [[Erme Mouth|mouth of the River Erme]] not far away,<ref name="ReferenceA">{{harvp|Fox|1973}}</ref> which may represent trade along this coast during the Bronze Age, although dating the site is very difficult.<ref>{{cite web|title=Erme Ingot|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/what-is-designation/protected-wreck-sites/wreck/erme-ingot|website=Protected Wreck Sites|publisher=Historic England|access-date=18 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528210047/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/what-is-designation/protected-wreck-sites/wreck/erme-ingot/|archive-date=28 May 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Strabo reported that British tin was shipped to Marseille.<ref>Strabo, III.2.9.</ref>

====Legend of Joseph of Arimathea====
[[Ding Dong mine]], reputedly one of the oldest in Cornwall, in the parish of [[Gulval]], is said in local legend to have been visited by [[Joseph of Arimathea]], a tin trader, and it is claimed that he [[And did those feet in ancient time|brought a young Jesus]] to address the miners, although there is no evidence to support this.<ref>Matthews, John (ed.) (1991) ''A Glastonbury Reader: Selections From the Myths, Legends and Stories of Ancient Avalon''. London: HarperCollins (reissued by The Aquarian Press)</ref>

====Iron Age archaeology====
There are few remains of prehistoric tin mining in Cornwall or Devon, probably because later workings have destroyed early ones. However, shallow cuttings used for extracting ore can be seen in some places such as Challacombe Down, Dartmoor. There are a few stone hammers, such as those in the Zennor Wayside Museum.<ref>{{harvp|Cradock|Cradock|1996}}</ref> It may well be that mining was mostly undertaken with shovels, antler picks, and wooden wedges. An excavation at Dean Moor on Dartmoor, at a site dated at 1400–900 BC from pottery, yielded a pebble of tin ore and tin slag.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Rocks were used for crushing the ore and stones for this were found at Crift Farm.<ref>{{harvp|Buckley|Earl|1990}}</ref> There have been finds of tin slag on the floors of Bronze Age houses,<ref>Penhallurick</ref> for example at Trevisker. Tin slag was found at Caerloges with a dagger of the Camerton-Snowhill type.

In the [[Iron Age]] bronze continued to be used for ornaments though not for tools and weapons, so tin extraction seems to have continued. An ingot from Castle Dore is probably of Iron Age date.

===Roman and Post-Roman periods===
The tin resources are said to have been a reason the Romans invaded Britain,<ref>{{harvp|Emsley|2001}}</ref> but they had control of mines in Spain and Brittany in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Later production in Spain was curtailed, probably by raiding. Production in Britain increased in the 3rd century, for use in coinage, and there was extensive use of tin in pewter manufacture, at Camerton in Somerset for example. Cornwall and West Devon were less Romanised than many other parts of Britain, and tin mining may have been in local hands, with tin purchased by the imperial authority. A possible official stamp has been identified on the Carnington tin ingot.<ref>Warner 1967</ref> A number of tin ingots have been found in Roman contexts, such as 42 found in a wreck at [[Bigbury-on-Sea|Bigbury Bay]] in 1991–92.<ref>Tylecote</ref><ref>{{harvp|Fox|1996}}</ref>

A site in the [[River Erme|Erme Valley]], Devon, shows sediment aggregation in late Roman and Post-Roman times due to tin mining on Dartmoor.<ref>Thornycroft, Pirrie and Brown</ref> There is a peak in activity between the 4th and 7th centuries. Tin slag at Week Ford in Devon has been dated to 570–890 AD.<ref>Gerrard 1997</ref>

[[St Piran]] (patron saint of tinners) is said to have landed at [[Perranporth]] from Ireland about 420 AD.

===Medieval and modern mining===

====Middle Ages====
There is no record of tin mining in [[Domesday Book]], possibly because the rights were Crown property. During the first half of the 12th century Dartmoor provided most of the tin for Europe, exceeding the production of Cornwall.<ref>{{harvp|Cathro|2005}}</ref> The [[Pipe Roll]] of [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] gives the annual tin production of Dartmoor as about 60 tons. In 1198 he agreed that "all the diggers and buyers of black tin, and all the smelters of tin, and traders of tin in the first smelting shall have the just and ancient customs and liberties established in Devon and Cornwall." This shows that mining had been going on for a long time. A charter confirming the miners' rights was granted by [[John, King of England|King John]] in 1201. The alluvial silt record in the Erme Valley, Devon, shows a build-up of tin waste between 1288 and 1389.

Following the transfer of power to the Norman lord [[Robert, Count of Mortain]], who held the manor of [[Trematon Castle|Trematon]], silver mining became a major industry, particularly in the Tamar valley around [[Bere Ferrers]] in Devon. Established in 1292 by the Crown under [[Edward I]], skilled labour was initially imported from [[Derbyshire]] and [[North Wales]], with specialist expertise from Germany and capital from Italy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://people.exeter.ac.uk/pfclaugh/mhinf/synopsis.htm|title=Current research - silver mining|publisher=Exeter University|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="Rippon_etal">{{harvp|Rippon|Claughton|Smart|2009}}</ref> Profits from rights to the silver mines for the Crown led to the rise of the ancient Cornish [[Earl of Mount Edgcumbe|Edgcumbe]] family at [[Cotehele]] and later [[Mount Edgcumbe Country Park|Mount Edgcumbe]].

[[File:Huntingdon wheelpit2.jpg|thumb|The wheelpit at Huntingdon mine]]
[[File:Crockern Tor, Dartmoor.jpg|thumb|Crockern Tor – Parliament Rock as seen from the "floor" of the Great Court]]
[[File:Bendigo Miners' statue.jpg|thumb|right|A statue commemorating Cornish and German miners in [[Bendigo]], Victoria, Australia]]
In 1305 King Edward I established separate stannaries for Devon and Cornwall. Water was used to operate [[Stamp mill|stamp]]s to crush the ore, the lighter waste being washed away. The mineral "black tin" was placed in furnaces and layered with peat. The molten metal was poured into granite moulds which produced ingots of tin. These were taken on pack horses to the stannary towns for assaying. Usable deposits in Devon became worked out, and so Cornwall became the centre of tin production. In 1337 Cornish tin production was 650 tons, but in 1335{{clarify|date=June 2018}} it had been reduced to 250 tons by the [[Black Death]]. In 1400 Cornish production rose to 800 tons. The production in Devon was only 25% of that of Cornwall in 1450–1470.

The tin works of Devon and Cornwall were of such importance that the medieval kings established [[stannary court]]s and [[stannary parliament]]s to administer the law in Cornwall and part of Devon. Up to the mid 16th century, Devon produced about 25–40% of the amount of tin that Cornwall did, but the total amount of tin production from both Cornwall and Devon during this period was relatively small.

Under the [[Stannary|stannary system]], tin was brought to coinage towns to be coined in [[Helston coinage hall|coinage halls]]. The stannary towns in Cornwall were originally: [[Helston]], [[Liskeard]], [[Truro]], [[Lostwithiel|Lostwithial]] and later [[Penzance]]. In Devon, the coinage towns were: [[Ashburton, Devon|Ashburton]], [[Plympton]], [[Chagford]] and [[Tavistock]].

The [[Cornish Rebellion of 1497]] originated among Cornish tin miners who opposed the raising of taxes by [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] to make war on [[Scotland]]. This levy was resented for the economic hardship it would cause; it also intruded on a special Cornish tax exemption. The rebels marched on London, gaining supporters as they went, but were defeated at the Battle of Deptford Bridge.

Quarrying was of very limited importance in medieval Cornwall. Stone for church building was very rarely imported from outside the county: they used whatever stone could be found within a short distance. For some ornamental features such as doorways, pillars and fonts good use was made of varieties of [[elvan]] (e.g. Polyphant and Catacleuze). The granite was not quarried but collected from the moorlands and worked on site. Quarrying of slate developed in north Cornwall in the later Middle Ages and later developed in early modern times into larger undertakings.<ref>Clifton-Taylor, Alec (1970) "Building materials", in: Pevsner, N. ''Cornwall''; 2nd ed. Penguin; pp. 29–34</ref>

====Early modern period====
After the 1540s, Cornwall's production increased rapidly and Devon's production was only about 10–11% of that of Cornwall. From the mid-16th century the Devon stannaries generated very little income for the Crown, and they were sidelined under the [[Privilege of Parliament Act 1512]]. The first [[Crockern Tor]] [[stannary parliament]] in Devon was held in 1494 and the last in 1748. At [[Combe Martin]] several disused silver mines are located on the eastern ridge and evidence of tunnels can still be seen, as well as the remains of a wheelhouse used to lift ore from the mine. There are items in the [[Crown Jewels]] made from Combe Martin silver.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

A second tin boom came around the 16th century when open cast mining was used. German miners who had knowledge of the techniques were employed. In 1689, Thomas Epsley, a Somerset man, developed a method to blast the very hard granite rock loose, using gunpowder with quill fuses. It revolutionised hard rock mining. Six days' work with a pick could be accomplished with one blast.<ref>The Breage parish register records Epsley's burial in 1689: "Thomas Epsly of Chilchumpton parish, Summersitsheere. He was the man that brought that rare invention of shooting the rocks which came heare in June 1689, and he died at the bal and was buried at breag [sic] the 16-day of December 1689". Halliday, F. E. (1959) ''A History of Cornwall''. London: Gerald Duckworth; p. 253</ref> There was a third boom in the 18th century when shafts were dug to extract the ore.

====Later modern period====
[[File:Trevithick1803Locomotive.jpg|thumb|[[Richard Trevithick]]'s steam engine]]
In the 19th century Cornish mining reached its zenith, before foreign competition depressed the price of copper, and later tin, to a level that made the extraction of Cornish ore unprofitable. The areas of Cornwall around [[Gwennap]] and [[St Day]] and on the coast around [[Porthtowan]] were among the richest mining areas in the world. At its height the Cornish tin mining industry had around 600 [[steam engine]]s working to pump out the mines (many mines reached under the sea and some went down to great depths). Adventurers put up the capital, hoping that the mine would return them a profit, but the outcomes were very uncertain.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

[[Caradon Hill]] had the most productive mine in east Cornwall. The South Caradon Copper Mine, 1&nbsp;km to the southwest of the [[Caradon Hill transmitting station]], was the largest copper mine in the UK in its heyday in the second half of the 19th century. Other disused copper and tin mines are scattered around the base of the hill. By the mid-19th century Looe had become a major port, one of Cornwall's largest, exporting local tin, arsenic, and granite, as well as hosting thriving fishing and boatbuilding industries. At [[Callington, Cornwall|Callington]] arsenic was found with copper ores and was processed by crushing and condensing; the poisonous nature of dust containing arsenic made the work very hazardous. Numerous precautions were taken but the workers tended to die in middle age.<ref>Baring-Gould, S. (1899) ''A Book of the West. Vol. II: Cornwall''. London: Methuen; pp. 109–112</ref> [[Menheniot]] was a centre of lead mining and is now surrounded by disused shafts and engine houses. Lead seams were discovered in the 1840s and Menheniot became the centre of a mining boom which lasted until the 1870s. During this period the population doubled.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/Menheniot/index.html|title=GENUKI: Menheniot|publisher=GENUKI|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> [[Kit Hill Country Park]] is steeped in mining history. Metals extracted included tin, silver, copper, and tungsten. The main mines were Kit Hill Summit Mines (which included a windmill near the present stack) (started about 1826; Kit Hill United closed in 1864); East Kit Hill Mine, worked from 1855 to 1909; [[Hingston Down]] mine (which worked westwards towards Kit Hill, may have started in the 17th century, it closed in 1885; and South Kit Hill Mine, worked from 1856 to 1884.

[[File:tin-mining-cornwall-c1890.jpg|thumb|center|View from Dolcoath Mine towards Redruth, c. 1890]]

The last Cornish Stannary Parliament was held at Hingston Down in 1753, and the Devon Stannary Parliament last met in 1748. The Stannary Courts of Devon and Cornwall were combined in 1855 and their powers transferred to local authorities in 1896.

By the middle and late 19th century, Cornish mining was in decline, and many [[Cornish diaspora|Cornish miners emigrated]] to developing mining districts overseas, where their skills were in demand: these included South Africa, Australia and North America. Cornish miners became dominant in the 1850s in the iron and [[Copper Country|copper district]]s of northern [[Michigan]] in the United States, as well as in many other mining districts. In the first six months of 1875, over 10,000 miners left Cornwall to find work overseas.

====20th century and after====
[[File:SW England China Clay Pits.png|thumb|Satellite image of east Cornwall and west Devon marked to show the three locations of china clay extraction]]
[[File:Tonne Fowey P8272189-1.JPG|thumb|right|Loading [[china clay]] (kaolinite) at Carne Point, Fowey]]
[[File:Panoramic view of the clay processing plants at Burngullow and Black - geograph.org.uk - 419514.jpg|thumb|The Blackpool Dryers and Mills for processing china clay near Burngullow]]
During the 20th century, various ores were briefly profitable, and mines were reopened, but today none remain. [[Dolcoath mine]] ([[Cornish language|Cornish]] for ''Old Ground''),{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} the 'Queen of Cornish Mines', was {{convert|3500|ft|m}} deep, and was for many years the deepest mine in the world,{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} not to mention one of the oldest before its closure in 1921. The last working tin mine in Europe was [[South Crofty]], near [[Camborne]], until its closure in March 1998. After an attempt was made to reopen it, it was abandoned. There were local media reports in September 2006 that South Crofty was being considered for re-opening as the price of tin had soared, but the site was subject to a [[compulsory purchase order]] (October 2006).{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} On the wall outside the gate is some graffiti dating from 1999:

{{poemquote|Cornish lads are fishermen and Cornish lads are miners too.
But when the fish and tin are gone, what are the Cornish boys to do?}}
(This is from the chorus of the song 'Cornish Lads' by Cornish singer/songwriter Roger Bryant, written at the time of the closure of Geevor Mine. See CD "The Writing's on the Wall" by Roger Bryant. Other recordings by Jinks' Stack and Mike Nicholson.)

The collapse of the [[International Tin Council]] in 1986 was the end for Cornish and Devonian tin mining. The most recent mine in Devon to produce tin ore was Hemerdon Mine near [[Plympton]] in the 1980s. The last Cornish tin mine in production at [[South Crofty]] closed in 1998. The [[Hemerdon Mine|Hemerdon]] tungsten and tin mine in south-west Devon re-opened as [[Drakelands Mine]] in 2015.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hemerdon tungsten mine: Britain's first metal mine in 40 years opens|publisher=BBC News|date=17 September 2015|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-34277159|access-date=18 July 2016}}</ref><ref name="Plymouth Herald"/>

In 1992, [[Geevor Tin Mine|Geevor mine]] was acquired by Cornwall County Council as a heritage museum, which is now run by Pendeen Community Heritage. Both Geevor Tin Mine and [[Morwellham Quay]] have been selected as "anchor points" on the [[European Route of Industrial Heritage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.erih.net/index.php?pageId=3 |title=European Route of Industrial Heritage Anchor Points |access-date=30 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412224350/http://en.erih.net/index.php?pageId=3 |archive-date=12 April 2008 }}</ref>

The extraction of [[Kaolinite|china clay]] (kaolin) continues to be of considerable importance: the larger works are in the [[St Austell]] district. The amount of waste in proportion to kaolin is so great that huge waste mounds were created whose whiteness in the early years means that they can be seen from afar. The [[Eden Project]] has been developed on the site of a former china clay and tin quarry. Extraction of slate and roadstone by quarrying still continues on a reduced scale: it was formerly an important industry, and has been carried on in Cornwall ever since the Middle Ages.<ref>{{harvp|Hatcher|1970}}</ref> Several quarries have been productive enough to need their own mineral railways. [[Granite]] of high quality has been extracted from many Cornish quarries such as [[De Lank Quarries|De Lank]]. Some granite has been taken very long distances for use in building. There are also some important quarries in Devon, such as [[Meldon Quarry|Meldon]] (a source of railway ballast for the [[Southern Railway (UK)|Southern Railway]]) and granite quarries on Dartmoor such as [[Merrivale, Devon|Merrivale]].

In 2017, plans were reported to extract lithium reserves from beneath Cornwall by [[Cornish Lithium]], who had signed agreements to develop potential deposits.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cornwalllive.com/cornwall-could-be-on-the-verge-of-a-mining-revolution-as-vast-reserves-of-precious-lithium-found/story-30068912-detail/story.html#AjWWYlSlTGiP3u5a.99 |title=Cornwall could be on the verge of a mining revolution as vast reserves of precious lithium found |work=Cornwall Live |access-date=20 January 2017 |archive-date=23 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123104325/http://www.cornwalllive.com/cornwall-could-be-on-the-verge-of-a-mining-revolution-as-vast-reserves-of-precious-lithium-found/story-30068912-detail/story.html#AjWWYlSlTGiP3u5a.99 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In April 2019, a British-based company, MetAmpère Limited, drilled six lithium exploration holes in the UK at a site near St Austell.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/test-success-brings-250m-cornish-16925977|title=Test success brings £250m Cornish lithium quarry a step closer|last=Telford|first=William|date=2019-09-16|work=Birmingham Post|access-date=2019-10-04}}</ref> MetAmpère has successfully extracted lithium from hard rock at a laboratory scale, resulting in plans for a further 20 drill holes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cornishstuff.com/2019/09/17/lithium/|title='Staggeringly good' Lithium Exploration Results from Cornwall |first=Roderick |last=Smith|date=17 September 2019}}</ref> In 2021, a new mine was extracting battery-grade<!--don't link this: abutting links are not desirable as the reader can't distinguish them visually--> [[lithium carbonate]].<ref name="FastMarkets MB"/>

=====Disasters=====
In the [[wikt:metalliferous|metalliferous]] mines of [[Cornwall]], some of the worst accidents were at [[East Wheal Rose]] in 1846, where 39 men were killed by a sudden flood; at [[Levant Mine]] in 1919, where 31 were killed and many injured in a failure of the [[man engine]];<ref>{{cite book|last=Corin|first=John|title=Levant, a Champion Cornish Mine|publisher=The [[Trevithick Society]]|year=1992|pages=40–44|isbn=0-904040-37-2}}</ref> 12 killed at [[Wheal Agar]] in 1883 when a cage fell down a shaft;<ref>{{cite book|last=Vivian|first=John|title=Tales of the Cornish Miners|publisher=H. E. Warne Ltd|location=St. Austell|year=1970|pages=22–24|chapter=The Wheal Agar Skip Disaster}}</ref> and seven killed at [[Dolcoath mine]] in 1893, when a large [[stoping (mining method)|stull]] collapsed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Vivian|first=John|title=Tales of the Cornish Miners|publisher=H. E. Warne Ltd|location=St Austell|year=1970|pages=38–40|chapter=When the Bottom of Dolcoath Fell In}}</ref>

==Main mining areas==
[[File:Geevor waterwheel stamps.jpg|thumb|right|A [[stamp mill]] with eight tin stamps at Geevor Tin Mine]]
[[File:View Hooten Wheels2.jpg|thumb|The dressing floor at Hooten Wheals, Dartmoor, showing the remains of two early 20th-century circular buddles]]
[[File:East Wheal Rose.jpg|thumb|The preserved engine house and stack at East Wheal Rose]]
[[File:The pine, the pub sign and the church - Zennor - geograph.org.uk - 1807780.jpg|Church and pub at Zennor, with the sign of the Tinners Arms|thumb]]

'''Cornwall'''
* [[Penwith]]
** [[St Just in Penwith]] and [[Zennor]]
* [[Camborne]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cornwall-calling.co.uk/mines/camborne/Camborne.htm|title=Map of Camborne mines|work=Cornwall Calling |access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> [[Redruth]] and [[Illogan]]
* [[Gwennap]] and the Carnon Valley in west Cornwall
* [[Wendron]] area in Kerrier
* [[St Agnes Mining District|St Agnes]] and [[Porthtowan]]
* [[North Cornwall]] (a few mines but no tin)
* A large area bounded by [[St Austell]], [[Wadebridge]], [[Bodmin]] and [[Callington, Cornwall|Callington]] in mid and east Cornwall

'''River Tamar'''
*[[Tamar Valley, England|Tamar Valley]] - copper, tin, lead, silver, and arsenic. See [[Morwellham Quay]]. Particularly in the nineteenth century, ores were internationally traded through [[Devonport, Devon|Plymouth Dock]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cornish-mining.org.uk/areas-places-activities/tamar-valley-tavistock|title=Tamar Valley & Tavistock|work=Cornish Mining |access-date=22 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tamarvalley.org.uk/projects/project-archive/miningheritage/|title=Tamar Valley – Mining Heritage Project|publisher=Tamar Valley AONB|access-date=22 December 2014}}</ref>

'''Devon'''
*[[Lydford]] – an ancient Saxon [[burh]]; the early medieval location of the most westerly silver mint and later ceremonial parliament and prison of the [[Stannary Court]] for Dartmoor
*[[Bere Ferrers]] – a unique Crown-operated medieval silver (and lead) mine<ref name="Rippon_etal"/>
*[[Combe Martin]] – lead/silver deposits<ref name="Rippon_etal_14">{{harvp|Rippon|Claughton|Smart|2009|p=14}}</ref>
*[[Exmoor]] and [[Brendon Hills]] – iron lead, silver, copper<ref name="Rippon_etal_14"/>
*[[Dartmoor]] – ancient [[stannary]] towns include [[Tavistock, Devon|Tavistock]], [[Ashburton, Devon|Ashburton]], [[Chagford]] and later [[Plympton]]
*[[West Devon]]
*Bampfylde Mine, [[North Molton]]<ref name="Rippon_etal"/>
*[[Blackdown Hills National Landscape|Blackdown Hills]] – copper deposits<ref name="Rippon_etal"/>

==Methods and processing==
See [[Dartmoor tin-mining]]

==Study and education==
The [[Royal Geological Society of Cornwall]] was founded in 1814<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.projects.ex.ac.uk/geomincentre/intro.htm|title=Camborne School of Mines Virtual Museum - The Cornubian Orefield|publisher=Projects.ex.ac.uk|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> to promote the study of the [[geology of Cornwall]], and is the second oldest geological society in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.cornish-mining.org.uk/story/schools.htm |  archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209080238/http://www.cornish-mining.org.uk/story/schools.htm |archive-date=9 December 2008| title = Mining schools and Institutes | website = Cornish Mining World Heritage Site}}</ref> The Cornish Institute of Engineers was begun by mechanical engineers. Mining is an important area in which it is active.

===Camborne School of Mines===
Because of the importance of metal mining to the Cornish economy, the [[Camborne School of Mines]] (CSM), [https://csm.exeter.ac.uk/about/history/ founded in 1888], developed as the only specialist hard rock education establishment in the United Kingdom. It continues to teach mining as well as many other earth-related subjects (e.g. [[engineering geology]]) relevant to the Cornish economy.

CSM now forms part of the [[University of Exeter]], and has relocated to the University's [[Tremough]] campus in [[Penryn, Cornwall|Penryn]]. Despite this move, the School continues the use of "[[Camborne]]" in its name. CSM graduates are to be found working in the mining industry all over the world.

==Terminology and symbolism==
Several Cornish mining words are still in use in English language mining terminology, such as [[costean]], [[gunnies]], [[vug]],<ref>''Dictionary of Mining, Mineral, and Related Terms''; by American Geological Institute and U S Bureau of Mines (pp. 128, 249, and 613)</ref> [[Bucket (machine part)#Mining|kibbal]], [[gossan]], [[mundic]] and [[Keeve (disambiguation)|kieve]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Herring|first1=Peter|last2=Sharpe|first2=Adam|last3=Smith|first3=John R.|last4=Giles|first4=Colum|title=Bodmin Moor, An Archaeological Survey. Volume 2: The Industrial and Post-Medieval Landscapes|url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-1416-1/dissemination/pdf/978-1873-592620_ALL_72.pdf|website=Archaeology Data Service|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=18 July 2016}}</ref>

Fish, tin, and copper together are sometimes used as a symbol of Cornwall because they show the three main traditional industries of Cornwall. Tin has a special place in the Cornish culture, the Stannary Parliament, and '[[Cornish currency|Cornish pennies]]' are a testament to the former power of the Cornish tin industry. Cornish tin is highly prized for jewellery, often of mine engines or [[Celtic art|Celtic]] designs.

The houses at [[Penair School]] are named after four notable tin mines. Among the pubs whose names refer to tin mining are the [[Tinner's Arms]] in [[Zennor]] and the former Jolly Tinners pub in [[St Hilary, Cornwall|St Hilary]]. The pub sign at Zennor pictures a tin miner at work, testimony to its origins.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tinnersarms.co.uk/index.php|title=The Tinner's Arms|publisher=The Tinner's Arms|access-date=31 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505172700/http://www.tinnersarms.co.uk/index.php|archive-date=5 May 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Jolly Tinners building at St Hilary was at one time used to accommodate the [[Bernard Walke#St Hilary Children's Home|St Hilary Children's Home]].<ref name=WSHH>{{cite web|url=http://www.walsinghamanglicanarchives.org.uk/sthilarys.htm|title=St Hilary's|publisher=Walsinghamanglicanarchives.org.uk|access-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628021758/http://www.walsinghamanglicanarchives.org.uk/sthilarys.htm|archive-date=28 June 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Walke, Bernard (2002) ''Twenty Years at St Hilary''. Mount Hawke: Truran; p. 190</ref>

===Three hares===
The '''[[three hares]]''' is a circular [[motif (visual arts)|motif]] which appears in [[sacred sites]] from the Middle and Far East to the churches of south west England (where it is often referred to as the "Tinners' Rabbits").<ref name="Chapman">{{cite web | url=http://www.chrischapmanphotography.com/hares/ | title=The Three Hares Project | author=Chapman, Chris | year=2004 | access-date=11 November 2008}}</ref> It occurs with the greatest frequency in the churches of the [[West Country]] of England. The motif appears in architectural [[wood carving]], [[stone carving]], window [[tracery]], and [[stained glass]]. In South Western England there are nearly thirty recorded examples of the Three Hares appearing on '[[roof boss]]es' (carved wooden knobs) on the ceilings in [[Middle Ages|medieval]] churches in [[Devon]], (particularly [[Dartmoor]]). There is a good example of a roof boss of the Three hares at [[Widecombe-in-the-Moor]],<ref name="Widecombe">{{cite web|url=http://www.widecombe-in-the-moor.com/history/minutes/2005/the_three_hares.php|title=Greeves, Tom, ''From China to Widecombe: The Extraordinary Journey of The Three Hares'', Widecombe-in-the-Moor.|publisher=Widdecombe-in-the-moor.com|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> Another exemplary roof boss can be found in the town of [[Tavistock, Devon|Tavistock]], in Dartmoor, on the edge of the [[Moorland|moor]].

Tinners' Rabbits is the name of a dance of many forms involving use of sticks and rotation of three, six or nine dancers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.breathlessbordermorris.org/Repertoire/TinnersRabbits.pdf |title=Choreography, Tinners Rabbits dance |publisher=Breathless in Berthoud [[Border Morris]] |date= 8 February 2008 |access-date=29 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weblo.com/music/song/Tinners_Dance/video/734024/3/ |title=Video, Tinners Rabbits dance |publisher=Weblo.com |access-date=29 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318164537/http://www.weblo.com/music/song/Tinners_Dance/video/734024/3/ |archive-date=18 March 2012 }}</ref>

==World Heritage Site==
{{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site
| WHS           = [[Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape]]
| image         = Tin mine Cornwall arty1.jpg
| image_upright = 1.2
| caption       = Old tin mine workings near Pendeen in Cornwall
| location      = [[Cornwall]] and [[West Devon]], [[United Kingdom]]
| includes      = 
| criteria      = {{UNESCO WHS type|(ii)(iii)(iv)}}(ii)(iii)(iv)
| ID            = 1215
| coordinates   = 
| year          = 2006
| area          = {{convert|19719|ha|acre|abbr=on}}
| locmapin      = 
| map_caption   = 
}}

In 1999, the [[Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape]] was added to the UK government's tentative list for submission to the [[World Heritage]] list. It was announced on 13 July 2006 that the bid had been successful. This [[World Heritage Site]] is unique in that it covers a technique exported worldwide, including [[Mexico]] and [[Peru]], and will consist of a trail linking mining sites from [[Land's End]] in [[Cornwall]], through [[Porthtowan]] and St Agnes up the spine of the county to the [[Tamar Valley, England|Tamar Valley]] forming the border with [[Devon]]. There, the exporting port of [[Morwellham Quay|Morwellham]] is being developed alongside the [[Devon Great Consols|Devon Great Consols Mine]] to demonstrate the nature and scale of the operations, with the Eastern Gateway to the [[World Heritage Site]] being anchored in the ancient [[stannary]] town of Tavistock, the base for Devon's own 19th-century [[gold rush]].

[[Heartlands (playground)|Heartlands]], the £35m National Lottery funded regeneration project, and gateway to the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site, opened to the public on 20 April 2012. This free visitor attraction had been 14 years in the planning (since [[South Crofty]] mine closed in 1998).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heartlandscornwall.com/about-us/world-heritage-site.php|title=Heartlands World Heritage Site|publisher=Heartlandscornwall.com|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>

In 2014, work was completed to preserve the iconic [https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/10726833.newly-restored-headframe-at-south-crofty-mine-in-pool-unveiled/ New Cooks Kitchen Headframe] at South Crofty tin mine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=34018|title=South Crofty heritage conservation work gathers pace|publisher=Cornwall.gov.uk|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> at an approximate cost of £650,000.

==Individual mines==
[[File:East Pool mine, Michells Shaft engine house.jpg|thumb|One of the preserved engine houses at [[Pool, Cornwall|Pool]], housing a 30&nbsp;inch engine]]

===Hemerdon Mine===
[[Hemerdon Mine]], alternatively known as the [[Drakelands Mine]] or Hemerdon Ball or Hemerdon Bal Mine,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mindat.org/loc-1528.html|title=Mindat online database|publisher=Mindat.org|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref> is a historic tungsten and tin mine, {{convert|7|mi|order=flip|abbr=in}} NE of [[Plymouth]], near [[Plympton]], in Devon. It lies to the north of the villages of [[Sparkwell]] and Hemerdon and adjacent to the large [[china clay]] pits near Lee Moor. The mine, which had been out of operation since 1944, except for the brief operation of a trial mine in the 1980s, hosts one of the largest tungsten and tin deposits in the world. It restarted production in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page674?oid=41265&sn=Detail|title=Mineweb Article|publisher=Mineweb.com|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="BBC 7126273">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/7126273.stm|title=BBC NEWS - UK - England - Devon - Tungsten and tin mine to reopen|date=4 December 2007|publisher=BBC News|access-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>

===South Crofty Mine===
{{Main|South Crofty}}
In November 2007 it was announced that [[South Crofty]] mine, near [[Camborne]], may restart production in 2009. When it closed in 1998 it was Europe's last tin mine. Its owners Baseresult Holdings Ltd, which bought the mine in 2001, have created a new company, Western United Mines Limited (WUM), to operate it and has said it will be spending in excess of £50m on restarting the mine. The company claims that rising tin prices had given the mine, first opened in the late 16th century, another 80 years of life. More than £3.5m will be spent during the next seven months on continuing the mine development.

Crofty Developments, a partner of the new company, still has to resolve a row with the [[South West England|South West]] [[Regional Development Agency]] (RDA) over use of more than {{convert|30|acre|m2}} of land surrounding the site. The RDA wants to make a compulsory purchase order on the site for leisure, housing and industry, but Crofty Developments has been fighting in the High Court to retain the site. The Cornish mining industry, started in 2000 BC, reached its peak in the 19th century, when thousands of workers were employed in up to 2,000 mines, before the industry collapsed when ores began to be produced more cheaply abroad.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cornwall/7074562.stm|title=Tin mine aims to re-open in 2009|date= 2 November 2007<!--, 10:25 GMT-->|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=30 April 2008}}</ref>

===Partial list of Cornish mines===
{{See also|Category:Mines in Cornwall}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Mine
! Opened
! Closed
! Operated by
! Product
! Production
|-
| Ale & Cakes
| 18th century
| 1870
| United Mines (1780-1857)
Clifford Amalgamated Mines (1857-1870)
|Tin & Copper
|
|-
| Alfred Consols
| 1801
| 1964
|
|Copper, Tin & Lead
| 175,000 Tonnes of Copper
|-
| Balleswidden
| 1832
| 1877
|
|Tin
|
|-
| Basset & Grylls
| 1858
| 1913
|
|Tin
| 
|-
| Belowda 
|1872
|1902
|
|Tin
|
|-
| Binner Downs
| 1758
|1830s
|
|Copper, Iron, & Tin
| 4,500 tonnes per year
100 tonnes of Iron Ore
|-
| Blencowe Consols
|
|
|
|Tin
|
|-
| Blue Hills
|
|1897
|
|Tin
|
|-
| Boiling Well 
| 1815
| 1865
|
|Copper, Lead, Silver, Zinc
| 2,900 tonnes of Copper <br> 410 tonnes of Lead <br> 54 tonnes of Zinc <br> 5,900 ounces of Silver
|-
| Boscaswell Downs
|1850s
|
|
|Tin & Copper
|
|-
| Boscawen Mine
|18th century
|
|
|Copper, Tin & Zinc
|
|-
| [[Boscean Mine]]
|1584
|?
|
|Tin
|
|-
| Bosorne
|1820
|
|
|Tin
|
|-
| Boswedden
|
|
|
|Tin & Copper
|
|-
|[[Botallack Mine]]
|1721
|1914
|Stephen Harvey James (1835–1870) <br> Botallack Mines, Limited (1906–)
|[[Tin]] <br> [[arsenic]] <br> copper
|
|-
| Budnick Consols
|1855
|1912
|
|Lead, Tin & Zinc
|
|-
| Buttern Hill
|
|
|
|Tin & Wolfram
|
|-
|[[Cape Cornwall Mine]]
|1839
|1875
|St Just Consolidated Tin and Copper Mining Company
|[[Tin]] <br> copper
|
|-
|[[Carnon Mine]]
|1824
|1830
|
|Tin
|
|-
| [[Consolidated Mines]]
|1782
|1857
|
|copper
|
|-
|[[Ding Dong mines]]
| c. 17th century
| 1879
|
| [[Tin]]
|
|-
|[[Dolcoath mine]]
|1720
|1920
|
|[[Tin]] <br> copper
|
|-
| [[East Wheal Rose]]
| ?
|1886
|
|lead
|
|-
|[[Geevor Tin Mine]]
|1780
|1991
| Geevor Tin Mines Ltd
| [[Tin]]
|
|-
| [[Great North Downs]]
|18th century
|1846
|
|Tin <br> Arsenic <br> Copper
|
|-
|[[Wheal Busy|Great Wheal Busy]]
|1720
|1909
|
|copper <br> [[arsenic]] <br> [[Tin]]
|100,000 tons
|-
| [[Great Wheal Charlotte]]
|before 1820
|1840
|
|Copper <br /> some Tin
|2,800 tons <br /> (1834&ndash;6)
|-
|[[Killifreth Mine]]
|
|1927
|
|copper <br> arsenic <br> tin
|
|-
| [[King Edward Mine]]
|
|
| [[Camborne School of Mines]] (1890–)
| [[Tin]]
|
|-
|[[Levant Tin Mine and Beam Engine|Levant Tin Mine]]<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/levant-mine-and-beam-engine/features/a-brief-history-of-levant-mine |title=A brief history of Levant Mine |date=30 April 2005 |website=National Trust |access-date=5 August 2022}}
</ref>
|1748
|1930
| Levant Mining Company (1820–1930) <br> National Trust (1967–)
| Copper <br> [[Tin]] <br> Arsenic
|
|-
|[[Mount Wellington Tin Mine]]
|1976
|1991
| Kensa Heat Pumps (2001–)
|[[Tin]]
|
|-
|[[Poldark Mine|Poldark Mine (Wheal Roots)]]
| 1720
| 1780
|
| [[Tin]]
|
|-
| [[South Crofty]]
| 1590s
| 1998
| South Crofty Limited (1906–1967) <br> Siamese Tin Syndicate Ltd (1967–1982) <br> [[Rio Tinto Group|Rio Tinto]] (1982–1988)<br> Carnon Holdings Limited (1988–1994) <br> Crew Natural Resources of Canada (1994–2001) <br> Base Result (2001-2007) <br> Western United Mines Limited (2007-2011) <br> Celeste Copper Corporation (2011-2016) Strongbow Minerals Limited 2016 -
| [[Tin]]
| 400,000 tonnes
|-
| [[Wheal Briggan]]
|?
|?
|
|Copper
|
|-
| [[Wheal Boys]]
|?
|?
|
|Tin <br> Copper
|
|-
| [[Wheal Castle]]
|?
|?
|
|Tin & Copper
|
|-
| [[Wheal Drea]]
|?
|?
|
|Tin
|
|-
| [[Wheal Edward]]
|?
|?
|
|Tin & Copper
|
|-
| [[Wheal Godolphin]]
|c. 16th century
|1930
|Godolphin Family 
|Tin
|
|-
| [[Wheal Gorland]]
|1792
|1909
|St Day United <br> [[Edgar Allen and Company]] (1906-1909)
|Arsenic <br> Copper <br> Tin <br> Tungsten
|
|-
|[[Wheal Jane]]
|1750
|1992
|Falmouth Consolidated Mines (1906–1915)<br> Consolidated Gold Fields (1960–1969) <br> [[Rio Tinto Group]] (1969–1980) <br> management consortium (1970–)
|[[Tin]] <br> Silver <br> [[Zinc]]
|
|-
| [[Wheal Owles]]
|1700
|1893
|
|Tin & Copper
|
|-
| [[Wheal Peevor]]
|1701
|1889
|
|Tin & Copper
|
|-
| [[Wheal Plenty]]
|?
|?
|
|Copper
|
|-
| [[Wheal Prosper, Rinsey|Wheal Prosper]]
|1860
|1866
|
|Tin & Copper
|
|-
| [[Wheal Rose]]
|?
|?
|
|Tin & Copper
|
|-
| [[Wheal Trewavas]]
|1834
|1846
|
|Tin & Copper
|
|-100,000 tonnes
| [[Wheal Vor]]
|c. 16th century
|1910
|
|Tin & Copper
|
|-
|[[South Terras mine|South Terras Mine]]
|c1870
|1937
|Union Mines Ltd, Uranium Mines Ltd, Minerals Research Syndicate, British Metalliferous Mines Ltd, Societie Industrielle Du Radium
|Uranium, Radium, Tin, Iron, Ochre
|> 2,000ts U, > 10g Ra
|}

==Railways==
[[File:Clay from Cornwall to the North - geograph.org.uk - 1083538.jpg|thumb|A freight train of china clay]]
''Note: The term "mineral railway" is usually understood to mean a railway operated in direct association with a single mine or a group of mines. An ordinary railway might convey the traffic of any consignor. However the terminology is not exact.''

===Cornwall Minerals Railway===
The Cornwall Minerals Railway opened in 1874, connecting harbours at Fowey and Newquay and sites of mineral extraction in the area between them, in particular in the Bugle and St Dennis areas. The railway absorbed and extended several existing short mineral lines.
{{main|Cornwall Minerals Railway}}

===East Cornwall Mineral Railway===
The ECMR connected copper extractive industries in the Kit Hill area to a quay at Calstock on the Tamar.
{{main|East Cornwall Mineral Railway}}

===Hayle Railway===
The Hayle Railway opened in 1837, serving engineering works and copper quays at [[Hayle]] and the copper mines of Redruth and Camborne.<ref>{{cite book| last = Bennett| first = Alan| title = The Great Western Railway in West Cornwall| publisher = Runpast Publishing| year = 1988| location = Cheltenham| isbn = 1-870754-12-3}}</ref>
{{Main|Hayle Railway}}

===List of mineral railways in Cornwall===
{|class="wikitable"
!Name
!Opened
!Closed
!Gauge
!Location
!Notes
|-
|[[Basset Mines Tramway]]<ref name=CNG>{{cite book |author=Dart, Maurice |title=Cornwall Narrow Gauge including the Camborne & Redruth tramway |year=2005 |publisher=Middleton Press |isbn=1-904474-56-X}}</ref>
|before 1907
|1918
|{{RailGauge|20in}}
|[[Redruth]]
|Steam locomotive worked line connecting the [[West Basset Mine]] and the stamps at Carnkie
|-
|[[Botallack Mine]]<ref name=CNG/>
|before 1864
|
|{{RailGauge|800mm}}
|[[St Just in Penwith|St Just]]
|300-yard surface line and cliff-side inclines into the mine.
|-
|[[Camborne Mines Ltd.]] [[Pendarves Mine]]<ref name=IL79>Industrial Locomotives 1979: including preserved and minor railway locomotives. Industrial Railway Society. 1979. {{ISBN|0-901096-38-5}}.</ref>
|
|after 1979
|{{RailGauge|600mm}}
|[[Camborne]]
|Underground railway serving the Pendarves tin mine
|-
|[[Cornwall Tin and Mining Corporation]] [[Mount Wellington Mine]]<ref name=IL79 />
|
|by 1979
|{{RailGauge|2ft}}
|[[Twelveheads]]
|Underground Tin mine
|-
|[[CTS Mining Ltd.]] [[Wheal Concord]] mine<ref name=7EL>Bryant, R.S. (ed.) (1987). Industrial Locomotives, including preserved and minor railway locomotives. Industrial Railway Society. {{ISBN|0-901096-55-5}}</ref>
|
|after 1987
|{{RailGauge|2ft}}
|Blackwater
|Underground [[mine railway]] using battery electric locomotives
|-
|[[Geevor Tin Mines Ltd.]] [[Geevor Tin Mine|Pendeen Mine]]<ref name=CNG/><ref name=IL79/>
|1911
|1991
|{{RailGauge|1ft6in}}
|[[St Just in Penwith|St Just]]
|Extensive underground tin mine railway. Part of the site, with reinstated tramway, has been reopened as the Geevor Tin Mines Museum.
|-
|[[Rosevale Historical Mining Company]]<ref name=CNG/>
|1974
|present
|{{RailGauge|2ft|nowrap=all}}&nbsp;and {{RailGauge|18in|nowrap=all}}
|[[Zennor]]
|Newly re-opened tin mine using battery-electric locomotives
|-
|[[South Crofty|South Crofty Mine]]<ref name=CNG/><ref name=IL79/>
|1900
|1998
|{{RailGauge|1ft10in|nowrap=all}}&nbsp;and {{RailGauge|18in|nowrap=all}}
|[[Camborne]]
|Extensive tin mine with internal railway. The mine was re-opened in 2001 although currently without the use of railway transport.
|-
|[[Wheal Jane Ltd.]] [[Wheal Jane|Clemo's Shaft]]<ref name=IL79 />
|1965
|1992
|{{RailGauge|2ft}}
|[[Baldhu]]
|Locomotive-worked Cornish tin mine.
|-
|[[Wheal Pendarves Ltd.]] [[Wheal Pendarves]] mine<ref name=7EL/>
|
|after 1987
|{{RailGauge|600mm}}
|[[Camborne]]
|Locomotive-worked Cornish tin mine.
|}

== Mineral statistics ==
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Cornwall Mineral Production (Tons)<ref name=":0" />
|'''Year''' 
|'''White Tin'''
|'''Black Tin'''
|'''Tin'''
|'''Copper Ore'''
|'''Copper Metal'''
|'''Lead Ore'''
|'''Silver'''
|'''Zinc'''
|'''Uranium'''
|'''Tungsten'''
|'''Arsenic'''
|-
|1845
|
|
|
|149834
|
|6063
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1846
|
|
|
|132444
|
|4933
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1847
|
|
|
|137665
|
|7304
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1848
|
|10176
|
|127226
|
|6614
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1849
|
|10719
|
|126650
|
|6773
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1850
|
|10383
|
|134020
|
|6783
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1851
|
|9455
|
|127285
|
|6709
|9.27125
|
|
|
|
|-
|1852
|
|9674
|
|165593
|11777
|6220
|10.667125
|
|
|
|
|-
|1853
|5763
|8866
|
|181944
|11914
|4690
|9.6875
|
|
|
|
|-
|1854
|5947
|8747
|
|184858
|11979
|5005
|9.34259375
|
|
|
|477
|-
|1855
|6000
|8947
|
|161576
|10520
|5882
|9.41425
|
|
|
|443
|-
|1856
|6177
|9350
|
|163980
|10520
|6597
|10.184125
|
|1
|
|514
|-
|1857
|6582
|9783
|
|152729
|9869
|6036
|8.57778125
|
|
|
|47
|-
|1858
|6920
|10618
|
|147330
|9727
|5437
|8.64234375
|
|
|
|396
|-
|1859
|7100
|10670
|
|143238
|9628
|4986
|8.83871875
|
|0.01
|27
|445
|-
|1860
|695
|10426
|
|145359
|9530
|4243
|7.30675
|
|
|19
|515
|-
|1861
|7450
|11640
|
|143119
|9169
|4229
|6.82909375
|
|
|7
|539
|-
|1862
|8476
|14127
|
|141800
|9063
|4119
|7.65396875
|
|
|12
|901
|-
|1863
|10006
|15157
|
|129229
|8411
|4271
|7.08340625
|
|
|13
|721
|-
|1864
|10108
|15211
|
|127633
|7964
|3539
|6.6785
|
|
|2
|633
|-
|1865
|10039
|15686
|
|121253
|7413
|4296
|7.766375
|
|
|2
|827
|-
|1866
|9990
|15080
|
|103670
|6551
|4351
|6.50734375
|
|
|
|1117
|-
|1867
|8700
|13649
|
|88660
|5995
|6481
|10.251375
|
|
|11
|1200
|-
|1868
|9300
|13953
|
|86722
|5726
|6310
|10.7124375
|
|
|9
|1267
|-
|1869
|9760
|14725
|
|71790
|5144
|6775
|10.72346875
|
|
|25
|1189
|-
|1870
|10200
|15234
|
|56526
|4148
|6360
|9.89846875
|
|
|51
|1813
|-
|1871
|10900
|16272
|
|46766
|3340
|5673
|8.78528125
|
|
|20
|4148
|-
|1872
|9560
|14266
|
|41902
|2944
|4099
|6.8156875
|
|
|88
|2950
|-
|1873
|9972
|14885
|
|40285
|2973
|2923
|4.25371875
|
|
|50
|3480
|-
|1874
|9942
|14039
|
|40455
|2771
|2337
|2.84728125
|
|
|33
|2286
|-
|1875
|9614
|13995
|
|49393
|2698
|1932
|0.94446875
|
|
|46
|2412
|-
|1876
|8500
|13688
|
|43016
|3034
|2070
|1.360625
|
|
|23
|2557
|-
|1877
|9500
|14142
|
|39225
|2938
|1674
|0.87446875
|
|0.1
|15
|1718
|-
|1878
|10106
|15045
|
|36871
|2903
|1022
|0.6169375
|
|0.4
|10
|1843
|-
|1879
|9532
|14665
|
|30371
|2342
|545
|0.3546875
|
|
|13
|1659
|-
|1880
|8918
|13737
|
|26737
|2004
|570
|0.3755
|
|
|1
|2044
|-
|1881
|8615
|12898
|
|24510
|1881
|409
|0.45175
|3508
|
|54
|2775
|-
|1882
|9300
|14170
|
|25641
|1886
|454
|0.36015625
|2190
|
|58
|3473
|-
|1883
|9262
|14399
|
|23250
|1362
|588
|0.29515625
|627
|
|111
|3380
|-
|1884
|9559
|15091
|
|21539
|1792
|352
|0.15625
|352
|
|64
|3347
|-
|1885
|9296
|14323
|
|19734
|1578
|160
|0.078125
|281
|
|374
|3889
|-
|1886
|9241
|14124
|
|7541
|680
|168
|0.06875
|263
|
|151
|1791
|-
|1887
|9215
|14083
|
|3415
|358
|0
|0
|228
|
|55
|1661
|-
|1888
|9184
|14282
|
|6838
|688
|0
|0
|64
|
|62
|1584
|-
|1889
|8877
|13756
|
|4959
|496
|0
|0
|60
|
|0.5
|1927
|-
|1890
|9574
|14868
|
|5271
|375
|0
|0
|0
|22
|104
|3143
|-
|1891
|9324
|14444
|
|4290
|305
|0
|0
|0
|31
|138
|3048
|-
|1892
|9205
|14260
|
|2813
|200
|11
|0
|6
|37
|125
|2567
|-
|1893
|8803
|13637
|
|2673
|190
|0
|0
|10
|25
|22
|1751
|-
|1894
|8307
|12880
|
|3362
|239
|0
|0
|27
|19
|0
|1900
|-
|1895
|6627
|10582
|
|5504
|391
|0
|0
|0
|40
|0
|1821
|-
|1896
|4834
|7657
|
|5616
|399
|0
|0
|25
|35
|43
|1366
|-
|1897
|4452
|7120
|
|4140
|294
|0
|0
|26
|30
|125
|1014
|-
|1898
|4647
|7378
|
|5293
|376
|0
|0
|0
|26
|326
|1062
|-
|1899
|4011
|6389
|
|5172
|367
|0
|0
|11
|7
|94
|1361
|-
|1900
|4263
|6792
|
|5926
|462
|0
|0
|4
|41
|8
|1160
|-
|1901
|4594
|7278
|
|4251
|332
|0
|0
|92
|79
|21
|1258
|-
|1902
|4387
|7552
|
|4547
|318
|0
|0
|0
|52
|10
|1029
|-
|1903
|4265
|7354
|
|5351
|401
|0
|0.0073125
|4
|6
|269
|690
|-
|1904
|4126
|6733
|
|4433
|347
|0
|0
|0
|0
|161
|827
|-
|1905
|4451
|7174
|
|4651
|358
|134
|0.248
|1
|103
|167
|1523
|-
|1906
|4496
|7114
|
|3053
|316
|112
|0.21875
|8
|11
|253
|1599
|-
|1907
|4340
|6986
|
|2802
|310
|106
|0.225
|158
|71
|259
|1368
|-
|1908
|4909
|7816
|
|1556
|152
|47
|0.10059375
|17
|71
|224
|1409
|-
|1909
|5108
|8166
|
|1580
|142
|0
|0
|321
|6
|343
|1817
|-
|1910
|4734
|7483
|
|870
|71
|1
|0
|0
|76
|259
|1817
|-
|1911
|4817
|7665
|
|988
|94
|2
|0
|70
|67
|246
|1912
|-
|1912
|5181
|8064
|
|590
|99
|3
|0
|0
|42
|189
|2011
|-
|1913
|5220
|8257
|
|421
|58
|4
|0
|0
|95
|183
|1449
|-
|1914
|4988
|7987
|
|500
|50
|5
|0
|0
|344
|206
|1706
|-
|1915
|
|6325
|
|461
|
|
|
|0
|82
|314
|2179
|-
|1916
|
|6068
|
|605
|
|
|
|0
|51
|151
|2256
|-
|1917
|
|5231
|
|617
|
|
|
|0
|13
|205
|2083
|-
|1918
|
|5340
|
|619
|
|
|
|0
|
|220
|1790
|-
|1919
|
|5128
|
|63
|
|
|
|0
|
|166
|2093
|-
|1920
|
|4832
|3100
|81
|
|
|
|0
|60
|91
|1752
|-
|1921
|
|
|700
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1922
|
|
|3400
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1923
|
|
|1000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1924
|
|
|2000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1925
|
|
|2300
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1926
|
|
|2300
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1927
|
|
|2600
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1928
|
|
|2800
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1929
|
|
|3300
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1930
|
|
|2500
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1931
|
|
|600
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1932
|
|
|1300
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1933
|
|
|1500
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1934
|
|
|2000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1935
|
|
|2100
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1936
|
|
|2100
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1937
|
|
|2000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1938
|
|
|2000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1939
|
|
|1800
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1940
|
|
|1600
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1941
|
|
|1500
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1942
|
|
|1400
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1943
|
|
|1400
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1944
|
|
|1300
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1945
|
|
|1000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1946
|
|
|900
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1947
|
|
|800
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1948
|
|
|900
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1949
|
|
|900
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1950
|
|
|900
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1951
|
|
|900
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1952
|
|
|900
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1953
|
|
|1000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1954
|
|
|900
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1955
|
|
|1100
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1956
|
|
|1100
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1957
|
|
|1100
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1958
|
|
|1100
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1959
|
|
|1200
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1960
|
|
|1200
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1961
|
|
|1200
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1962
|
|
|1200
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1963
|
|
|1300
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1964
|
|
|1300
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1965
|
|
|1300
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1966
|
|
|1300
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1967
|
|
|1400
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1968
|
|
|1600
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1969
|
|
|1700
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1970
|
|
|1700
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1971
|
|
|1800
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1972
|
|
|3300
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1973
|
|
|3600
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1974
|
|
|3800
|
|480
|
|
|2810
|
|
|
|-
|1975
|
|
|4100
|
|562
|
|2.6
|3092
|
|
|
|-
|1976
|
|
|4000
|
|414
|
|2.08
|3020
|
|
|
|-
|1977
|
|
|4200
|
|350
|
|1.4
|4348
|
|
|
|-
|1978
|
|
|3200
|
|116
|
|0.35
|1676
|
|
|
|-
|1979
|
|
|2700
|
|60
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1980
|
|
|3300
|
|297
|
|
|4332
|
|
|
|-
|1981
|
|
|3700
|
|665
|
|3.04
|10855
|
|
|
|-
|1982
|
|
|4200
|
|726
|
|3.04
|10186
|
|
|
|-
|1983
|
|
|4000
|
|740
|
|2.71
|8880
|
|
|
|-
|1984
|
|
|5200
|
|756
|
|2.58
|7478
|
|
|
|-
|1985
|
|
|5200
|
|596
|
|
|5344
|
|
|
|-
|1986
|
|
|4300
|
|602
|
|
|5659
|
|
|
|-
|1987
|
|
|4000
|
|750
|
|
|6557
|
|
|
|-
|1988
|
|
|3400
|
|732
|
|
|5502
|
|
|
|-
|1989
|
|
|3800
|
|508
|
|
|5771
|
|
|
|-
|1990
|
|
|3400
|
|945
|
|
|6593
|
|
|
|-
|1991
|
|
|2300
|
|290
|
|
|887
|
|
|
|-
|1992
|
|
|2000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1993
|
|
|2200
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1994
|
|
|1900
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1995
|
|
|2000
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1996
|
|
|2100
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1997
|
|
|2400
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1998
|
|
|500
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|'''Totals'''
|'''457,969'''
|'''798,696'''
|'''169,100'''
|'''4,072,680'''
|'''219,951'''
|'''170,470'''
|'''223.275'''
|'''101,343'''
|'''1,543'''
|'''6,328'''
|'''114,729'''
|}
[[File:SpallingLge.jpg|thumb|Bal maidens at work, showing traditional dress]]
[[File:Tin mine near St Agnes 2.JPG|thumb|upright|Wheal Coates, St Agnes]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
*[[Bal maiden]]s, female ore dressers
*[[Beam engine]]
*[[Come, all ye jolly tinner boys]]
*[[Cornish emigration]]
*[[Cornish engine]]
*[[Cornish Foreshore Case]]
*[[Cornish Mines & Engines]]
*[[Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape]], a World Heritage Site
*[[Dartmoor tin-mining]]
*[[Geology of Cornwall]]
*[[Hayle]], centre of copper smelting
*[[John Taylor (civil engineer)|John Taylor]], inventor of the Cornish rolls
*[[Kenneth Hamilton Jenkin]], historian
*[[Knocker (folklore)|Knocker]], said to inhabit the mines
*[[Lostwithiel Stannary Palace]]
*[[Mineral Tramway Trails]]
*[[Morwellham Quay]], inland port
*[[Robert Hunt (scientist)|Robert Hunt]], mineralogist and statistician
*[[Tin sources and trade in ancient times]]
*[[Welcome Stranger]] (a notable nugget of gold found by two Cornish miners in Victoria, Australia)
*[[William Jory Henwood]], mining geologist
*[[Williams family of Caerhays and Burncoose]], mining entrepreneurs
*[[Scorrier House]], seat of the Williams family
*[[Tin coinage]]
*[[Helston coinage hall|Helston Coinage hall]]
*[[Stannary]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book |last=Barton |first=D.&nbsp;B. |year=1963 |title=A Guide to the Mines of West Cornwall |location=Truro |publisher=D. Bradford Barton }}
*{{cite journal |last=de Beer |first=Gavin |author-link=Gavin de Beer |year=1960 |title=Iktin |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=126 |issue=2 |pages=160–167 |doi=10.2307/1793956 |jstor=1793956 |bibcode=1960GeogJ.126..160D }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Buckley |first1=Allen |first2=Bryan |last2=Earl |year=1990 |title=Preliminary report on the tin and iron working site at Crift Farm |journal=[[Journal of the Trevithick Society]] |volume=17 |pages=66–77 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Cathro |first=R.&nbsp;J. |year=2005 |title=Tin deposits and the early history of bronze |journal=CIM Bulletin |volume=98 |issue=1088 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Champion |first=Timothy |year=2001|title=The appropriation of the Phoenicians in British imperial ideology |journal=Nations and Nationalism |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=451–465 |doi=10.1111/1469-8219.00027 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Christie |first=P.&nbsp;M. |year=1986 |title=Cornwall in the Bronze Age |journal=Cornish Archaeology |volume=25 |pages=81–111 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Cradock |first1=Paul T. |first2=Brenda R. |last2=Cradock |year=1996 |title=The beginning of metallurgy in south west Britain: hypotheses and evidence |journal=Mining History |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=52–63 |url=http://www.pdmhs.com/docs/default-source/bulletins/bulletin-13-2/bulletin-13-2---the-beginnings-of-metallurgy-in-south-west.pdf?sfvrsn=4 }}
*{{cite journal |last1=Cunliffe |first1=Barry |year=1982 |title=Britain, the Veneti and beyond |journal=Oxford Journal of Archaeology |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=39–68 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0092.1982.tb00298.x }}
*{{cite book |last=Emsley |first=J. |year=2001 |title=Nature's Building Blocks: an A–Z Guide to the Elements |chapter=Tin |pages=[https://archive.org/details/naturesbuildingb0000emsl/page/445 445–450] |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198503408 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/naturesbuildingb0000emsl/page/445 }}
*{{cite book |last=Fox |first=Aileen |author-link=Aileen Fox |year=1973 |title=South West England |edition=2nd }}
*{{cite journal |last=Fox |first=Aileen |author-link=Aileen Fox |year=1996 |title=Tin ingots from Bigbury Bay, South Devon |journal=Mining History: The Bulletin of the Peak District Mines Historical Society |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=150–151 |url=http://www.pdmhs.com/docs/default-source/bulletins/bulletin-13-2/bulletin-13-2---tin-ingots-from-bigbury-bay-south-devon.pdf?sfvrsn=4 }}
* Gerrard, S. ''The Early British Tin Industry'', Tempus, 2000.
*{{cite book |last=Hatcher |first=John |year=1970 |title=Rural Economy and Society in the Duchy of Cornwall 1300–1500 |url=https://archive.org/details/ruraleconomysoci0000hatc |url-access=registration |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-08550-0 }}
* Penhallurick, R. ''Tin in Antiquity''. 1986.
* Penhallurick, R. ''Europe Tin Deposits''. 1998.
*{{cite book |last1=Rippon |first1=S. |first2=P. |last2=Claughton |first3=C. |last3=Smart |year=2009 |title=Mining in a Medieval Landscape: the Royal Silver Mines of the Tamar Valley |publisher=University of Exeter Press }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*Barton, D. Bradford (1961) ''A History of Copper Mining in Cornwall & Devon''. Truro: Truro Bookshop; 2nd ed. Truro, 1968; 3rd ed. Truro, 1978
*{{cite book |last=Beer |first=K. E. |title=The Metalliferous Mining Region of South-West England: addenda and corrigenda |pages=xi–xlvii |publisher=British Geological Survey |year=1956 |location=Keyworth}}
*Booker, Frank (1967) ''The Industrial Archaeology of the Tamar Valley''. Newton Abbot: David & Charles; Revised impression 1971
* Brooks, Tony (2001) ''Castle-an-Dinas 1916–1957: Cornwall's premier tungsten mine with brief comparative histories of other wolfram mines in Cornwall & West Devon''. St. Austell, Cornwall : Cornish Hillside Publications {{ISBN|1-900147-15-7}}
*Burt, Roger, with Raymond Burnley, Michael Gill and Alasdair Neill (2014) ''Mining in Cornwall & Devon: Mines and Men''. Exeter: University of Exeter Press {{ISBN|978-0-85989-889-8}}
*Collins, J. H. (1897) ''The Miner in Cornwall and Devon''. (Cited by A. C. Todd (1972); p.&nbsp;11.)
* Cunliffe, Barry "Ictis is it here?"; ''Oxford Journal of Archaeology'' 2/1, pp.&nbsp;123–126, 1983.
*{{cite book |last=Dines |first=H. G. |title=The Metalliferous Mining Region of South-West England |volume=1 & 2 |pages=526 & 300 |publisher=[[HMSO]] |year=1956 |location=London}}
*{{cite book |last=Earl |first=Bryan |title=Cornish Mining: the techniques of metal mining in the West of England, past and present |publisher=Cornish Hillside Publications |location=St Austell |edition=2nd |year=1994 |isbn=0-9519419-3-3}}
* Hatcher, John ''English Tin Production and Trade before 1550''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973.
* Hawkes, C. "Ictis disentangled and the British tin trade" in: ''Oxford Journal of Archaeology''; 3/2, pp 211–234, 1984.
* Hammersen, L. ''The Control of Tin in South West Britain from the 1st Century AD to the Late 3rd Century AD''. MA thesis, North Carolina University, 2007.
*Jenkin, Kenneth Hamilton ''The Cornish Miner: an account of his life above and underground from early times''. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1927: three editions, including 3rd edition, 1962 (reprinted by David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1972 {{ISBN|0-7153-5486-8}}; reprinted in facsimile with an introduction by John H. Trounson, Launceston: Westcountry, 2004 {{ISBN|1-902395-06-9}})
* Jenkin, Kenneth Hamilton ''Mines and Miners of Cornwall'' in 16 volumes, vols. 1–14 originally published by the Truro Bookshop, 1961 onwards and reprinted by various organisations:
** ''Pt. I. Around St. Ives'' {{ISBN|0-904662-04-7}}
** ''Pt. II. St. Agnes, Perranporth'' {{ISBN|0-904662-05-5}}
** ''Pt. III. Around Redruth'' {{ISBN|0-904662-06-3}}
** ''Pt. IV. Penzance-Mount's Bay'' {{ISBN|0-904662-08-X}}
** ''Pt. V. Hayle, Gwinear and Gwithian'' {{ISBN|0-904662-10-1}}
** ''Pt. VI. Around Gwennap'' {{ISBN|0-904662-11-X}}
** ''Pt. VII. Perranporth-Newquay''
** ''Pt. VIII. Truro to the clay district''
** ''Pt. IX. Padstow, St Columb and Bodmin''
** ''Pt. X. Camborne and Illogan''
** ''Pt. XI. Marazion, St Hilary and Breage''
** ''Pt. XII. Liskeard area''
** ''Pt. XIII. The Lizard-Falmouth-Mevagissey''
** ''Pt. XIV. St Austell to Saltash''
** ''Pt. XV. Calstock, Callington and Launceston'' Penzance: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1969 (reprinted Bracknell: Forge Books, 1976) {{ISBN|0-902660-00-4}}
** ''Pt. XVI. Wadebridge, Camelford and Bude'' Penzance: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1970
** ''Index to Mines and Miners of Cornwall: Volumes 1–16''. St. Austell: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1978
* Jenkin, Kenneth Hamilton ''Mines of Devon''. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1974
**Volume 1: South Devon {{ISBN|0-7153-6784-6}}
**Volume 2: Mines of Devon, north and east of Dartmoor: Sydenham Damerel, Lydford, Wheal Betsy, Wheal Friendship, Okehampton, Sticklepath, Chagford, Buckfastleigh, Ashburton, Ilsington, Teign Valley, Newton St. Cyres, and Upton Pyne. (Reprinted by Devon Libraries 1981 {{ISBN|0-86114-317-5}})
**Both volumes reprinted by Landmark, 2005 {{ISBN|1-84306-174-0}}
* Jenkin, Kenneth Hamilton ''Wendron Tin'' (commissioned by [[Poldark Mine]]), 1978
* Laing, L. R. "A Greek tin trade with Cornwall" in: ''Cornish Archaeology''; 7, 1968, pp.&nbsp;15–22.
* Lewis, G. R. : ''The Stannaries: a study of the English tin miner''. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1924.
*Lewis, Jim (2006) "Cornish copper mining 1795-1830: economy, structure and change", in: ''Cornish Archaeology''; ser. II, vol. 14, {{ISBN|0-85989-799-0}}; pp.&nbsp;164–86.
*Murray, John, publisher (1859) ''Handbook for Devon and Cornwall''. London: John Murray
* Pearce, Susan C. ''Bronze Age Metalwork of South West Britain.'' (BAR; 190). Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 1983.
* Quinell, H. ''Cornwall in the Iron and Roman Ages''.
* Rickard, T. A. ''Man and Metals: a history of mining in relation to the development of civilisation'' (2 vols). New York: McGraw-Hill, 1932.
*{{cite book |last=Spargo |first=Thomas |year=1860 |title=Statistics and Observations on the Mines of Cornwall and Devon}}
*Stanier, Peter ''Mines of Cornwall and Devon: an historic photographic record''. Truro: Twelveheads Press, 1998 {{ISBN|0-906294-40-1}}
* Todd, A. C. & Laws, Peter (1972) ''The Industrial Archaeology of Cornwall''. Newton Abbot: David & Charles
*Trounson, J. H. (1980, 1981) ''Mining in Cornwall, 1850-1960''. 2 vols. Ashbourne: Moorland {{ISBN|0903485796}} & {{ISBN|0903485958}}
*Trounson, J. H. (1999) ''Mining in Cornwall''; rev. & enlarged ed. compiled by J. H. Trounson and L. J. Bullen Stroud: Tempus Vol. 1: The central district; vol. 2: The county explored. {{ISBN|075241707X}} (v. 1) & {{ISBN|0752417088}} (v. 2); 
* Trounson, J. H. (1989) ''The Cornish Mineral Industry: past performance and future prospect, a personal view 1937–1951''; edited by Roger Burt and Peter Waite. Exeter: University of Exeter in association with the National Association of Mining History Organisations
* Trounson, J. H. (1993) ''Cornwall's Future Mines: areas of Cornwall of mineral potential''. Exeter: University of Exeter Press

;Devon
*{{cite journal |last=Finberg |first=H. P. R. |title=The Stannary of Tavistock |journal=Rep. Trans. Devon. Ass. Advmt Sci. |volume=81 |year=1949}}
*{{cite journal |last=Finberg |first=H. P. R. |title=An Unrecorded Stannary Parliament |journal=Rep. Trans. Devon. Ass. Advmt Sci. |volume=82 |year=1950}}
*{{cite book |title=Industrial Archaeology of Dartmoor |last=Harris |first=Helen |year=1972 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot |isbn=0-7153-4302-5}}
*{{cite book |last=Newman |first=Phil |title=The Dartmoor Tin Industry – A Field Guide |publisher=Chercombe Press |location=Newton Abbot |year=1998 |isbn=0-9532708-0-7}}
*{{Cite book |last=Richardson |first=P. H. G. |title=Mines of Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley after 1913 |publisher=The Northern Mine Research Society |location=Sheffield |year=1992 |isbn=0-901450-38-3}}
*Thorneycroft, V. R., Pirrie, D. and Brown, A. (2004) "Alluvial records of medieval and prehistoric tin mining on Dartmoor, southwest England" in: ''Geoarchaeology''; 19/3, pp 219–236, Feb 2004.
*{{cite book
| title=Worth's Dartmoor
| last = Worth
| first = R. N.
| editor1-last = Spooner
| editor1-first = G. M.
| editor2-last = Russell
| editor2-first = F. S.
| editor2-link = F. S. Russell
| year=1967
| publisher=David & Charles
| isbn= 0715351486
| location=Newton Abbot}}

;United States
* Cornish, Joseph H. ''The History and Genealogy of the Cornish Families in America''. Higginson Book Company. 2003. ASIN: B0006S85H6.
* Ewart, Shirley. ''Highly Respectable Families: the Cornish of Grass Valley, California 1854–1954 (Nevada County Pioneers Series)''. Comstock Bonanza Press. October 1998. {{ISBN|978-0-933994-18-8}}.
* Magnaghi, Russell M. ''Cornish in Michigan'' (Discovering the Peoples of Michigan Series). Michigan State University Press. October 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-87013-787-7}}.
* [[Philip Payton|Payton, Philip]] ''The Cornish Overseas''. Cornwall Editions Limited. April 2005. {{ISBN|978-1-904880-04-2}}.
* [[A. L. Rowse|Rowse, A. L.]] ''The Cornish in America''. Redruth: Dyllansow Truran. June 1991. {{ISBN|978-1-85022-059-6}}.
* Todd, Arthur C. ''The Cornish Miner in America: the Contribution to the Mining History of the United States by Emigrant Cornish Miners: the Men Called Cousin Jacks''. Arthur H. Clark (publisher). September 1995. {{ISBN|978-0-87062-238-0}}.
* White, Helen M. ''Cornish Cousins of Minnesota, Lost and Found: St. Piran's Society of Minnesota''. Minnesota Heritage Publications. 1997. ASIN: B0006QP60M.

==External links==
{{commons category|Mining in Cornwall}}
{{commons category|Mining in Devon}}
*[http://www.cornish-mining.org.uk/ Cornish Mining]
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{{Cornwall}}

[[Category:History of Cornwall]]
[[Category:History of mining in the United Kingdom|Cornwall]]
[[Category:Mining in Cornwall| ]]
[[Category:Mining in England|Cornish Mining]]
[[Category:Tin mining]]
[[Category:Mining in Devon|Cornwall]]