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Mines/United Kingdom

South Crofty mine

South Crofty mine, United Kingdom. Closed, underground, mining tin, copper.

Why South Crofty mine is famous

ICOMOS describes South Crofty as the last Cornish tin mine to close, in 1998, after the 1866 copper crash left only tin mines working. It lies within the Camborne and Redruth area of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape (inscribed 2006).1,2

Story cards

Timeline

  1. 24 October 1985International Tin Council collapse3

What kind of deposit

Tin greisen and tin vein

South Crofty mine today

Where tin is mined todayWhere copper is mined todayMining in United Kingdom

Where next

Mines

ExamplesDolcoath MineDolcoath's Williams Shaft reached about 754 m. South Crofty was the last Cornish tin mine, closing in 1998.4ExamplesHemerdonHemerdon in Devon is a tungsten and tin deposit that Tungsten West plans to restart.5ExamplesWheal JaneTwo Cornish tin mines now closed: Wheal Jane and South Crofty, the last, shut in 1998.1

Events

ExamplesInternational Tin Council collapseThe last Cornish tin mine, South Crofty, closed in 1998.3

Places

Located inRedruthSouth Crofty mine is about 4 km from Redruth.1Located inCornwall and West Devon Mining LandscapeSouth Crofty mine is about 12 km from Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape.1

Deposit types

An example ofTin greisen and tin veinSouth Crofty mine belongs to the tin greisen and tin vein family of deposits.6

Sources

  1. Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, evaluation No 1215 UNESCO World Heritage Centre / ICOMOS advisory body evaluation
  2. Wikidata item Q2304399 (South Crofty) Wikidata (CC0)
  3. Tin written answer, 29 October 1985 UK Parliament (Hansard)
  4. Dolcoath Mine Grace's Guide
  5. Company home page Tungsten West plc
  6. Mineral Deposit Models (Bulletin 1693, Cox and Singer, eds., 1986) US Geological Survey

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Dolcoath tin mine, Camborne, Cornwall: miners in a mine shaft, standing on wooden platforms connected by ladders. Photograph by J. C. Burrow, 1890/1910., Burrow, J. C., 1852-1914 (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Timna in de Negevwoestijn; rotspartij "de zuilen van Salomo", Poll, Willem van de / Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Chiquicamata Mine, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)).