MineArchiveDemo page — this record exists only to check the template. It is not a real mine and is left out of search, the sitemap and every listing page.
Wheal Example (demo record)
| Also known as | Wheal Sample |
|---|---|
| Location | Demo County — 50.1234, -5.1234 (approximate) |
| Commodities | Tin, Copper |
| Type | Metal |
| Worked | c. 1840–1912 |
| Maximum depth | approximately 180 fathoms (accounts vary — see claims below) |
| Operators | Demo Mining Company Ltd (1862–1901) |
| Status | Reviewed |
| Last reviewed | 2026-08-19 |
Overview
A fictional Cornish-style tin and copper mine used only to demonstrate every field on this template — infobox, prose sections, claims with conflicting sources, external links and image attribution.
History
Worked from the 1840s as a small tin venture before a copper lode was struck in the 1860s, prompting a period of expansion under the Demo Mining Company. Production declined through the 1890s as richer lodes were exhausted, and the mine finally closed in the early twentieth century, by which point most Cornish deep mining was in terminal decline.
Geology
Sits on the contact between granite and killas (metamorphosed slate), the setting typical of Cornish tin and copper lodes, where mineralisation concentrated along near-vertical veins running roughly east–west.
Workings
Two main shafts and a network of adit levels driven to adjacent valleys for drainage. An engine house at the principal shaft housed a pumping engine installed during the 1860s expansion.
Closure
Closure followed the exhaustion of workable lodes rather than any single incident; pumping ceased and the lower levels flooded within a few years.
What remains
The engine house stands roofless but structurally intact. Both shafts are capped. Spoil heaps and the footings of an ore-dressing floor survive nearby.
The engine house chimney and most of one gable wall remain standing to their original height; a boiler house wall survives to about two metres.
Redevelopment
No formal restoration has taken place; the site is on private agricultural land with no public access to the shafts.
Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- Production ceased in 1908, according to the Inspector of Mines annual return for that year. 1
- Some secondary sources give 1912 as the closure date — this appears to be when the operating company was formally wound up, rather than when mining stopped. (disputed) 2
- A 2023 exploration report describes the lower adit as partially collapsed roughly 40 metres in — this has not been independently verified. (uncertain) 3
Photographs & further reading
This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.
Background history, a transcribed 1870s shareholder report and several historic mine plans.
View sourceAn extensive underground photo report showing the main level, flooded lower workings and surviving timber — exactly the kind of observational source cited above.
View sourceSources
- (primary) Demo Inspector of Mines Annual Report (placeholder) — HM Inspector of Mines (demo)
- (primary) Demo company dissolution record (placeholder) — Companies register (demo)
- (observational) Demo exploration report, 2023 (placeholder) — Example Urbex Forum (demo)
- (secondary) Demo Mining History Society Bulletin (placeholder) — Demo Mining History Society
Record created: 19 August 2026 · Last researched: 19 August 2026