Tin allowed for the much more complex shapes cast in closed moulds of the Bronze Age. Arsenical bronze objects appear first in the Near East where arsenic is commonly found in association with copper ore, but the health risks were quickly realized and the quest for sources of the much less hazardous tin ores began early in the Bronze Age. This created the demand for rare tin metal and formed a trade network that linked the distant sources of tin to the markets of Bronze Age cultures. Cassiterite (SnO), the tin oxide form of tin, was most likely the original source
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