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 28 July 2000 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Sundown Mine is of historical importance because of its combination of tin, copper and arsenic production, the primary product at any given time varying with the prevailing market condition. Thus at one site is a microcosm of the forces influencing the pattern of most mining in this region of southern Queensland. The Sundown Mine together with the Beecroft Mine and the Jibbenbar State Arsenic Works, is associated with the prickly pear eradication program. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon