UK Grid Reference: SW780565
Latitude: 50°21'57"N
Longitude: 5°7'19"W
An iron mine on the Perran Iron Lode, originally worked opencast from two pits, a small western one and a large eastern one, about 70 yards apart. The eastern pit was 200 ft long, up to 80 ft wide and 100 ft deep. The oxidation of the siderite stopped at about 50 ft below surface and the workings at the bottom of the pit, which were in two large chambers, exposed massive grey siderite ore with scattered specks of sulphides.
An adit, wide enough to take normal-gauge railway wagons, was driven from 300 yards NNE of the eastern pit to open up the lode at greater depth. It passed 40 ft below the pit, to which it was connected by an ore-pass winze. A mine plan shows that drives were carried out from the tunnel below the pit 100 ft east and 150 ft west at two levels. Several crosscuts from each of the drives cross the position of the lode, but there is no stoping shown, indicating, that the rich orebodies which were certainly expected were not found.
There also are two old shafts NE and NNE of the pit, which are believed to be on the southern extension of Trebisken Lode. According to the plans, the shafts were connected to the adit, but it is not known whether the lode was exploited here. However, some lead and silver ores were sold when the mine was operated as Mount and Trebisken Mine.
Mount Mine was reopened in 1916 without success and during the Second World war (1939-1945), was investigated as a source of iron ore. An inclined shaft was sunk just east of the eastern pit and followed the footwall of the lode. Drives were carried out on both sides to prove the lode, but the values were rather patchy and wartime production remained small. The grid reference marks the site of Engine Shaft. The chimney of the engine house still stands in the field south of the eastern pit, which is now backfilled and overgrown.
From 1858 to 1877, the mine produced 45,826 tons of brown iron ore, 5.5 tons of lead ore, 10 tons of silver ore and some native silver under the name Trebisken and Mount. As Mount Mine, it produced 4,262 tons of iron ore in 1871, 1873, 1880, 1905 and 1907, and 11 tons of lead ore in 1854. As Perran Iron Mine, it returned 164 tons of brown iron ore in 1866 and, for the New Perran Iron Company, another 2,728 tons of iron ore and 49 tons of manganese ore were recorded in 1878.
References
- A.K. Hamilton Jenkin: Annotations to Ordnance Survey map, scale 1:10,000, sheet 39SW.
- Dines, H.G. (1956): The metalliferous mining region of south-west England. HMSO Publications (London), Vol. 1, pp. 442-443 (see also corrigenda in the 1994 reprint).
Mineral List
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