Tin Mining Could Return To Cornwall
The soaring price of the metal means companies like SIP Resources and CCC are now looking at reviving the industry. Experts say the price of tin could double.
Simatupang,, Indonesia, January 14, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Coastal Mining in the Region Stretches Back 3,500 Years
Searching for tin throughout the world for new deposits has drawn almost a complete blank but it is known that Cornwall has tin reserves and that is why there are now half a dozen companies at least looking very seriously at Cornwall.
Cornwall’s first love affair with tin eventually ended when it was no longer financially viable to mine as cheaper deposits of tin were found overseas, and by the end of the nineteenth century tin mining had severely declined. The last few struggling companies finally gave up the ghost in the 1920s.
When the South Crofty tin mine closed down 14 years ago, metal prices had collapsed and production generated only losses, now its valued at £1.5 billion
The reversal of fortunes, thanks to the demand for metal in China and the developing world, is now expected to revive an ancient Cornish industry that stretches back more than 3,500 years.
The project has so far attracted investment of around £15 million but up to £75 million will be needed to make it operational.
Canadian-owned CCC valued the tin by comparing the quantity of the metal, believed to be around 7.95 million tonnes, with current markets. It has expressed hopes of creating more than 220 jobs.
The price of the metal has quadrupled over the last decade and is now worth around £12,700 a tonne. When South Crofty was decommissioned in 1998, it was worth little more than £3,000.
Demand for metals gradually began to sink in the 1980s and few chose to invest in the industry.
Although China is the world’s largest producer of tin, its rapid growth and urbanisation has rendered it unable to keep up with rising demand and prices over the last six years have soared. Cornwall now seems to be the answer to the worlds growing demand with its 3,500 year history in tin mining about to be reignited. Half a dozen mining companies including SIP Resources are currently looking at new projects with SIP Resources expected to release further information in the second quarter of 2015.