Tin for alloying with copper to form bronze, and with lead to produce pewter, has been mined in Cornwall for over 2,000 years. And, as was discovered in the early 19th century, a thin layer of tin on iron sheet provides a combination of sterility and strength ideal for food canning. The high demand for tin led Cornwall's miners to dig deep underground, and the problems of draining the mines brought forth many important developments in steam pumping engines. The skills and technologies Cornish miners learned in their homeland were exported to mining regions all over the world, including North America where the immigrant mine captains were highly sought. Cornish tin mining reached its peak in the second half of the 19th century, but faced significant competition from foreign sources of tin, particularly Malaysia, in the 20th century.
Tin mining is almost extinct in Cornwall today.
They are streaming waste sands from several hundred years of working alluvial sands. Geevor Mine worked up until the late 1980s, when it was converted to a museum. There will be a short underground tour and lots of time to explore above ground. Of course, there will be steam pumping engines, some of the largest in the world. The Levant Engine, a 24-in rotative beam winding engine is the oldest surviving engine in Cornwall, and it runs on live stream.