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1914 to the present
A number of mines were recapitalised or reworked
during the period up to the 1920s. Carn Brea & Tincroft, Basset
and Grenville United (all
Camborne & Redruth Mining
District), Botallack, Boscaswell United (both
St Just Mining
District), Phoenix United (Caradon), Wheal Vor (Tregonning), West
Kitty, Wheal Kitty & Penhalls United (all
St Agnes Mining
District) amongst others. They were mostly unsuccessful.
The
Redruth & Chasewater Railway closed in 1915 and G F Basset
(the most prominent private mineral lord in Cornwall at the time)
sold his entire mineral rights to a London syndicate. Lord Clifden
(Agar-Robartes family of Lanhydrock) |
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followed with the
disposal of 25,000 acres in 1919, the same year in which 31 miners
perished in the terrible man-engine disaster at Levant Mine. These
were on the whole sad times for Cornwall.
Arsenic supplemented tin output and East Pool & Agar Ltd (having
discovered a fabulously rich tin lode at the same time) became a
leading producer; its chimney bearing the arsenic brand name
‘EPAL’ picked out in white brick.
The largest tin smelter that Cornwall possessed – the Cornish Tin
Smelting Company’s Seleggan Works near Carn Brea – was the last to
close in 1931. |
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In 1935 South Crofty Mine acquired the
Dolcoath and
Roskear setts. Shortly afterwards the Second World War created a
renewed demand for tin and tungsten. East Pool & Agar Mine (Camborne
and Redruth Mining District,
closed 1945), Castle-an-Dinas Wolfram Mine (1915-1956) and South Crofty Mine recorded significant outputs of tungsten. New Consols
mine at Luckett (Tamar Valley) reopened for tin and tungsten in
the 1950s and ‘nuclear’ tests were conducted in the nearby
Excelsior Tunnel.
South Crofty and
Geevor Mine (St Just) were now
the largest tin producers in Cornwall. In the 1960s tin prices
began to soar and Wheal Jane (Gwennap Mining District) was
reopened (1970-1991).New
operations also began at Mount Wellington Mine (Gwennap Mining
District) and at Pendarves Mine (Camborne, 1970-1988). High prices
persisted (albeit with artificial price intervention by the
International Tin Council) until October 1985 when the Council
collapsed financially in spectacular style and the price of tin
halved overnight. By the end of the year the tin price had dropped
from over £10,000 per tonne to under £3,000 per tonne. Wheal
Concorde (St Agnes) and Pendarves closed in 1988, Geevor closed in
1990, Wheal Jane closed in 1991, and South Crofty closed in 1998.
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Large steel headframes dominate the mines at
Geevor, South Crofty and Mount Wellington and have become cultural
icons that join the engine houses of a former era to mark the
landscape with a reminder of a proud mining tradition.
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