Tin sources and trade in ancient times Bantu culture of Zimbabwe are known to have actively mined, smelted and traded tin between the 11th and 15th centuries AD . Tin deposits exist in many parts of South America, with minor deposits in southern Peru, Colombia, Brazil, and northwestern Argentina, and major deposits of exploitable cassiterite in northern Bolivia. These deposits were exploited as early as 1000 AD in the manufacture of tin bronze by Andean cultures, including the later Inca Empire, which considered tin bronze the "imperial alloy". In North America, the only known exploitable source of tin during ancient times is located in the Zacatecas tin
Sundown Tin and Copper Mine above the dams, leaching the metallic salts and having a strongly sulphurous smell. The Copper Mines are located about east of the furnace site, and consist an adit near the creek, and a series of 3 shafts along the line of the reef running roughly s-w to n-e over the crest of the ridge, and mullock associated with the shafts. The main shaft is a three-compartment shaft. There is a collapsed ore bin and shute, and some concrete machinery pads, but no other substantial above- ground remains. Sundown Tin and Copper Mine was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on