South Hooe, Bere Alston Mines, Bere Alston (Beeralstone), Tavistock District, Devon, England, UK

A.K.A. In conjunction with North Hooe it may also have been known at different times as Tamar Silver Lead and Tamar Consols. In conjunction with South Tamar it was also known as South Tamar Consols

South Hooe is situated on the north side of the Tamar River, where it makes a west to east meander. Worked in the early 1800s the silver content was found to be as high as 180oz to the ton, with lead at around 60% and in 1814-15 3 tons of silver was raised.
In 1820 a merger linked South Hooe and South Tamar under the name South Tamar Consols but in 1821 the whole was offered for sale.
Work began again in 1835 at South Hooe under the name of the Tamar Silver-Lead mine with high expectations. As the lode pitches south the majority of the workings are to the south for up to ¼ of a mile under the river. To work the mine it was necessary to drive longer and longer levels from the initial shaft as work progressed. To overcome this a 25degree incline was driven between the 13 and 115 fathom levels. Spurgin’s shaft under the river was then sunk to the 175 fathom level and an underground engine installed for hauling. The smoke from the engine was ducted to surface through old workings but unfortunately in 1851 a group of workers found a rich pocket of ore in the old workings but 4 of the 6 were overcome by the fumes and died. Ores were smelted at Weir Quay where furnaces could handle up to 300 tons per month. The silver return averaged 60oz / ton. Returns on the ore increased with depth but working finally ceased in 1885 250 fathoms below adit.
A.K. Hamilton Jenkin


Worked from engine shaft, sunk to 250ftms on the 15 degree east underlie. The 160 and 175ftm levels are the most extensive out to 470ftm south.
Outputs under the names of Tamar Silver Lead and Tamar Consols are 1845-76 14640 tons of 62% lead ore and 326300oz silver. From 1879-82, 780 tons of fluorspar.
Tamar Consols may also have included North Hooe for which there are no specific records of output.
Dines H.G. 1956

Galena, fluorite and pyrite are all found below the spoil heaps on the river bank but only small pieces in amongst the rivver pebbles and mud, which doesn't make it a great collecting location. However, a fingernail size flake of galena tested positive for silver by dissolving in nitric acid and adding common salt to give a white precipitate to the level of about 0.1%.

References:
Mines of Devon, Volume 1: The Southern Area, A K Hamilton Jenkin 1974

The Metalliferous mining Region of South west England, H G Dines 1956.