The serpentine cliffs on the south side of Mullion Cove have a rich history. Serpentine itself forms a high proportion of the bedrock on the Lizard south of Mullion, extending east across the peninsula and south towards the old Lizard Point. In the areas where serpentine is found it has often undergone extensive geological faulting, and with the faulting there are many intrusions or dykes of material such as Kennack Gneiss. These faults and intrusions hold the key to the formation of certain minerals, which were often found together in a variety of concentrations. There were two minerals of economic importance, and both were first sought out in the 1700s. The first was native or virgin copper which, although rare in the UK, is 94% pure and is found in sheets appearing as though molten copper has been poured over the serpentine. It was initially found by accident in the 1720s at Predannack in a rich shallow deposit. Richard Hall, a Mullion man, was riding his horse over the Predannack Downs one day when the horse kicked up what turned out to be a piece of copper ore and after an investigation the mine was started. Although found in very small uneconomic amounts in the Cove, it was economically mined underground in the 1720s, away to the SE at what is now Vro Farm, the first operation being Wheal Ghostcroft or Ghost Mine.