Pendarves Mine

Overview

A late-20th-century revival of tin mining 1.5 km south of Camborne, begun with the sinking of Simms Shaft in 1967-68 and worked by Camborne Mines Ltd from 1970, by South Crofty's Great Western Ores from 1973 and lastly under Carnon Consolidated, until the 1985 tin crash closed it.

History

Pendarves Mine, 1.5 km south of Camborne, was a product of the 1960s resurgence of interest in Cornish tin, a reopening of old ground to work the Tryphena lode, where tin and copper ores had been mined in the late 19th century by West Condurrow, Wheal Nelson and Wheal Tryphena, all closed by the 1870s. Camborne Tin Ltd explored for the lode's presumed western extension, and the results were encouraging enough for Simms Shaft to be sunk in 1967-68 -- the first new shaft sunk anywhere in Cornwall in forty years -- followed by initial underground development. The shaft, concrete-lined through weak ground and unusually rectangular in section, reached 260 metres and 5 level; it was deepened 10 metres for 6 level in 1976, and in 1981 a winze and raise carried working down to 7 level at 305 metres.

Production was negligible at first, and in 1970 Union Corporation, a major shareholder, withdrew its support; Camborne Mines Ltd was formed on 1 May 1970 to operate the mine. With no mill of its own, it bought and adapted a tin-streaming mill at Roscroggan, 4 km to the north, and carried the ore there by road, but after trial mining from 1972 the company went into receivership early in 1973. In June 1973 Great Western Ores Ltd, a subsidiary of South Crofty Ltd, bought the mine, closed Roscroggan and sent the ore to the South Crofty mill; by the late 1970s production had reached around 40,000 tons of ore a year, won in very difficult conditions. It was a wet mine, pumping 1 to 1.5 million gallons a day, and the kaolinised wall rocks and water turned broken ore from the Tryphena lode into a sludge.

The mine's end is told two ways. In 1984, almost out of developed ore, it was announced that Pendarves would go on to care and maintenance, and one account has lack of money and development closing it that year once the bulk of its available reserves had been worked out. But its acquisition by Carnon Consolidated reversed that decision, and it worked on at modest levels while exploration continued, until it became one of the first casualties of the International Tin Council's financial collapse in October 1985, when the price of tin halved almost overnight, from over £10,000 to under £3,000 a tonne, the crash that destroyed the fortunes of every working Cornish tin mine; Carnon closed it in 1985 as it rationalised its operations. The site was cleared of buildings and equipment, and nothing of the mine now survives there.

Geology

Tin and copper ores in the Tryphena lode complex south of Camborne, with the Frasers, Harriet, Killivose, Q7 and Q7A lodes also worked from Simms Shaft. The mine lies in the western extension of the Carn Brea granite ridge, where it narrows and plunges into the killas, and its workings cut coarse-grained porphyry, killas and elvan dykes. The Tryphena Lode is a complex of seven known veins, four of them the mainstay, averaging 1 metre wide and dipping 75 degrees south-east in strongly kaolinised and haematised wall rocks; the Harriet Lode, north of Simms Shaft, is at least ten veins that converge at depth into a single lode 1.5 metres wide dipping 50 degrees south-east.

Geological setting: Veins and Lodes (well documented example)

Workings

Worked via Simms Shaft, sunk 1967-68 as the first new shaft in Cornwall in forty years and originally 260 metres deep, with underground development following on the Tryphena lode complex and the Frasers, Harriet, Killivose, Q7 and Q7A lodes. The shaft, rectangular and concrete-lined, served 5 level; it was deepened 10 metres for 6 level in 1976, and in 1981 a winze and raise took working to 7 level at 305 metres. Most ore came from 5 level and above, by shrinkage stoping into 'Cousin Jack' chutes and later some draw-point stopes, with hand-held pneumatic drills, rocker shovels and battery locomotives; it was raised by a counterbalanced skip and cage and crushed on surface. The mine pumped 1 to 1.5 million gallons of water a day from 5 level.

Closure

Sources differ: one says lack of money and development closed the mine in 1984, when most of its ore reserves were exhausted; another has Carnon Consolidated closing it as it rationalised after the tin price collapsed in October 1985.

What remains

Nothing of the mine survives on the site: its dumps had been cleared by 2017 and an equestrian centre stands there.

None known.

Related mines

• Mount Wellington Mine — Both were Carnon Consolidated mines in the 1980s.
• South Crofty — Pendarves was bought in 1973 by Great Western Ores, a South Crofty subsidiary, and its ore was milled at South Crofty.
• Wheal Jane — Both were Carnon Consolidated mines in the 1980s.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• One account says lack of money and development forced Pendarves to close in 1984, when the bulk of its available ore reserves had been exhausted. (disputed) ³
• Another says Carnon Consolidated closed Pendarves, which had supplied ore to the South Crofty mill since at least 1975, when it rationalised its operations after the October 1985 tin price collapse. (disputed) ⁵

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• By the late 1970s Pendarves was producing around 40,000 tons of ore a year. ¹
• The October 1985 collapse of the International Tin Council halved the tin price almost overnight, from over £10,000 to under £3,000 a tonne, and crippled Cornish tin mining. ²
• Simms Shaft, sunk 1967-68, was the first entirely new shaft sunk anywhere in Cornwall in forty years. ¹
• The mine was started in 1967 as a reopening of an old mine on the Tryphena lode, where tin and copper had been worked in the late 19th century; its main shaft, Simms Shaft, reached 260 metres. ^3,4
• One account says lack of money and development forced Pendarves to close in 1984, when the bulk of its available ore reserves had been exhausted. (disputed) ³
• Another says Carnon Consolidated closed Pendarves, which had supplied ore to the South Crofty mill since at least 1975, when it rationalised its operations after the October 1985 tin price collapse. (disputed) ⁵
• Specimens from the mine are labelled from the Tryphena, Frasers, Harriet, Killivose, Q7 and Q7A lodes and from Simms Shaft; by 2017 the site had been cleared of its dumps and an equestrian centre stood on it. ⁶
• In the 1960s Camborne Tin Ltd explored for the presumed western extension of the Tryphena Lode, earlier worked unprofitably by West Condurrow, Wheal Nelson and Wheal Tryphena, all closed by the 1870s; the results led to Simms Shaft being sunk in 1967-68. ¹
• Union Corporation, a major shareholder, withdrew in 1970 and Camborne Mines Ltd was formed on 1 May 1970; it treated the ore at a converted tin-streaming mill at Roscroggan, 4 km north, mined on trial from 1972 and went into receivership early in 1973. ¹
• In June 1973 Pendarves was bought by Great Western Ores Ltd, a subsidiary of South Crofty Ltd; Roscroggan mill was closed, the ore went to the South Crofty mill, and production was built up to around 40,000 tonnes a year. ¹
• In 1984 it was announced that Pendarves would go on to care and maintenance, but its acquisition by Carnon Consolidated reversed the decision and it kept working at modest production; it was one of the first casualties of the 1985 tin price crash and closed that year. ¹
• Simms Shaft, rectangular and concrete-lined, was sunk to 260 metres, giving access to 5 level; it was deepened by 10 metres for 6 level in 1976, and in 1981 a winze and raise took working to 7 level at 305 metres. ¹
• The Tryphena Lode is a complex of seven known veins, about 1 metre wide and dipping 75 degrees south-east, in kaolinised and haematised wall rocks; the Harriet Lode, north of Simms Shaft, is at least ten veins converging at depth into one lode 1.5 metres wide dipping 50 degrees south-east. ¹
• Pendarves was a wet mine, pumping 1 to 1.5 million gallons a day from 5 level; ore was won largely by shrinkage stoping into 'Cousin Jack' chutes and raised by a counterbalanced skip and cage for crushing on surface. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Pendarves Mine (Wheal Pendarves) — Mindat
2. (secondary) The story of Cornish tin mining — British Heritage
3. (secondary) Last Cornish Mines: Home (Wheal Pendarves) — Cornish Mine Images
4. (secondary) Cornish Miners Memories 3 — Cornish Mine Images
5. (secondary) South Crofty — Wikipedia
6. (observational) Wheal Pendarves, Killivose, Camborne, Cornwall UK — Albion Fire and Ice
7. (primary) Pendarves Mine: longitudinal section of Tryphena Lode (BGS mine plans catalogue, item 25514) — British Geological Survey

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 18 September 2026