South Crofty Mine

Dudnance Lane, Pool, Redruth, TR15 3QT
Tel: (01209) 715777
Email: baseresult@btconnect.com

South Crofty Mine is situated mid-way between Camborne and Redruth at Pool in Cornwall. Beginning its life as a small sett called Penhellick Vean in the 1590's, it grew as it absorbed the smaller mines around it, becoming South Wheal Crofty in 1854. Initially a shallow tin mine and then a copper mine, the mine workings went back into the deep tin zone from the 1860's onwards and copper production began to decline. In 1906 South Crofty Mine Ltd became the foundation of the modern mine which was worked for tin, arsenic and tungsten during the early 20th century, but by the 1960's tin was the sole product. The workings eventually reached almost 3000 feet in depth, equalling Dolcoath, and stretched from Centenary Street in Camborne to Barncoose.

The mine closed, controversially, in 1998 after some 400 years of almost continuous work, still posessing significant reserves and several tempting exploration targets. It has been re-opened (as of September 2001) by Baseresult Ltd as New Cook's Kitchen Mine and is now officially unabandoned. Although flooded to adit level (~140 feet) Baseresult intend to restart it as a working mine and will hopefully resume tin production within the near future. A section of the workings above adit, on North Tincroft Lode, have (as of October 2003) been opened for tourist visits with access from the Tuckingmill Decline.

The underground tour starts at the portal of the Tuckingmill decline. This 5m by 3m inclined tunnel was excavated during the mid 1980's and was intended to be the main mine access. The upper sections which pass through poor ground close to surface contain steel arches for support. 50m down from the portal on the right-hand side is the connection to Eastern Valley Shaft which was part of the famous Dolcoath Mine. The decline was driven approximately 600m from surface and in 1988 all work stopped, only the top 250m is accessible above the water level. At a point 200m from the portal, access has been gained to the series of parallel stopes which belong to the North Tincroft Lode, sections of these are very old, late 1600's but the last major period of working dates from the early 1900's to the 1940's. Traditional open shrink stoping has been employed and pillars left for support, this has given rise to some very large voids. The maximum depth below surface that you will reach on the tour is about 150 feet (45m).

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