Tin mining to trace metal content in the copper ore It was soon discovered that the addition of tin or arsenic to copper increased its hardness and made casting much easier, which revolutionized metal working techniques and brought humanity from the Copper Age or Chalcolithic to the Bronze Age around 3000 BC. Early tin exploitation appears to have been centered on placer deposits of cassiterite. The first evidence of tin use for making bronze appears in the Near East and the Balkans around 3000 BC. It is still unclear where the earliest tin was mined, as tin deposits are very rare and
Sundown Tin and Copper Mine to calcine the tin concentrates and drive of arsenic and sulphur. In 1917 a Merton calciner was erected and flues for arsenic recovery constructed. It is likely that these replaced the old reverberatory furnace and calciner. Arsenic became and important product of the mines, the demand escalating during the prickly pear infestation. New shafts were sunk at both the tin and copper mines. The lack of water reduced output in 1918, only 23 tons of tin and 12.5 tons of copper concentrates being produced, but the new shafts were continued, the three compartment copper shaft having poppet legs and ore