CITY AM: Cornwall hopes for tin mining revival as metals firm lands £56m injection
After the belts whirred to a halt and workers left Cornwall’s last operating tin mine for a final time in March 1998, a question was painted on its outer wall:
“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?”
The closure of South Crofty in Pool, at the centre of Cornwall’s old industrial heartland, ended centuries of mining in the county and rang the death knell for an industry that once brought thousands of jobs to the region.
But after life as a tourist attraction and a series of failed attempts to restart production, hopes are growing that the old mine could soon kick back into life.
Cornish Metals, a Canadian firm listed on the London Stock Exchange, yesterday announced a £56m fundraise led by the government’s National Wealth Fund that will look to “de-risk” the mine and prepare it for operational use.