The magazine of the photo-essay
March 2018 back issue
“A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!”
Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film maker
by Damian Bird
South Crofty Tin Mine, Pool, Cornwall. February 2018.
Tin and copper has been mined at South Crofty since the late 1500s, but in 1998, with the collapse of the tin market,
the current mine closed, taking the last of Corwall’s great mining heritage with it.
Recent rises in the price of tin, thanks to our inexhaustable consumption of electronic goods (tin is used as a lead-free
solder), have meant that, once again, mining tin has become a profitable proposition. As a result, Strongbow
Explorations, the new owner of South Crofty, is set to de-water the mine (it is flooded below a depth of 60 metres)
and return it to production, giving back hundreds of jobs to the area.
The de-watering process has begun…
