Hope for closed tin mine as new owners take over

There's hope for closed tin mines across Cornwall as new owners take over Credit: ITV West Country

A Cornish tin mine could return to production within the next five years, according to the Canadian firm that has acquired it.

Strongbow Exploration Inc. have struck a deal which gives them the right to acquire - from administration - a 100% interest in South Crofty.

Today the firm’s CEO is in Pool visiting the site where his company are planning to investigate digging for ore 400 metres underground.

The mine permission area includes 26 former mines in the Camborne, Pool and Redruth areas.

When South Crofty Tin Mine closed in 1998, it marked the end of Cornwall's long history of tin mining, which dates back to the Bronze Age.

The mine shut after the price of tin plummeted at the end of the 1990s and despite underground mineral resources valued at £3-4 billion, it has never secured the financial backing to reopen.

Several companies have attempted to revive the mine between 2001 and 2013 but, due to poor market conditions, the assets were put into administration in 2013.