Mining in Cornwall and Devon tin was found as alluvial deposits of cassiterite in the gravels of stream beds. Eventually tin was mined underground; underground mines sprang up as early as the 16th century. Tin lodes were also found in outcroppings of cliffs. Tin is one of the earliest metals to have been exploited in Britain. Chalcolithic metal workers discovered that by putting a small proportion of tin (5 – 20%) in molten copper, the alloy bronze was produced. The alloy is harder than copper. The oldest production of tin-bronze is in Turkey about 3500 BC, but exploitation of the tin resources in Britain is
Sundown Tin and Copper Mine Sundown Tin and Copper Mining Company (N.L.) which erected a 10-head battery driven by a suction-gas plant, and built two fines dams. No work had been done for some time on the tin portion, but some had been going on for copper. In 1915 a calciner was erected, together with "another" Wilfley concentrating table and a Berdan crushing pan, and a new shaft was sunk on the tin deposit. The new tin shaft had poppet legs erected over it in 1916, and a 16 hp Tangye winding engine and vertical boiler were installed. That year 69.5 tons of tin and