Trevega Bal (Trevegia Mine; West St Ives Consols; Brea Consols; Trevessa and Brea Mines), Towednack, Cornwall, England, UKi

Regional Level Types
Trevega Bal (Trevegia Mine; West St Ives Consols; Brea Consols; Trevessa and Brea Mines)	- not defined -
Towednack	Civil Parish
Cornwall	County
England	Constituent Country
UK	Country

An amalgamation of several small tin mines, some of which are very old. Records of workings in the area date back to the 17th century, but it is not known when they were started, nor when the individual mines were included with the sett. Wheal Brea worked in the coastal strip west of Brea Cove, which is composed of killas and greenstones. The other mines were in granite country, and occupied a roughly rectangular stretch of land about 400 yards further south. Their approximate locations are known, but their boundaries cannot now be distinguished.

The plans indicate a dozen of NE-trending lodes within a transverse distance of 600 yards, which are crossed by another six or seven lodes with a more northerly trend. The most northerly lodes, North Lode and Great Brea Tin Lode, were worked in Wheal Brea section. In the southern part of the sett, Thomas's Lode was opened up from Engine Shaft in Wheal Trevega section, and Matthew's Lode from Matthew's Shaft in Wheal Matthews section. Thomas's Lode was also accessed by two adits driven southwards from the coast. The first one, commencing in Brea Cove, connects with the lode 40 fms NE of Engine Shaft in Wheal Trevega section, then follows the lode to the shaft where it turns SE to meet Matthew's Lode at Matthews Shaft. The second adit starts about 150 yards west of the first one and meets Thomas's Lode 50 fms SW of Wheal Trevega Engine Shaft. According to Hamilton Jenkin, the intersection point was located in Wheal Richards section of the sett. It appears that there were shafts sunk on this adit, as several shaft mounds in a straight line from the coast can be identified in the fields at surface. Dines also mentions a third adit commencing in River Cove, more than half a mile further west, but Noall pointed out that this was related to Treveal Mine and did not connect to the Trevega Bal workings.

Trevessa and Brea Mines were first mentioned in the early 19th century, but they were only worked intermittently. An early period ended in 1842, when materials were offered for sale. Around 1860, the "Brea Consolidated Tin Mining Company Ltd." was formed, who operated the mines under the name of Brea Consols until 1863, during which time they produced 93 tons of black tin. In 1868, they were started again as West St Ives Consols, but soon abandoned and sold with all their plant and machinery in January 1872 for only 415 pounds. The workings then lay idle until 1907, when they were resumed under the name of Trevegia Mine. Operations continued until 1913, and 38 tons of black tin were raised which were of a high quality and fetched exceptional prices. In July 1911, a ton was sold for 113 pounds, compared to somewhat less than 104 pounds paid to St Ives Consols at the same time. However, although rich, the lodes were small and averaged only three inches in width. Mining probably became uneconomic and finally forced the mine to close.

Geochronology

Geologic Time				Rocks, Minerals and Events
Phanerozoic
	Paleozoic
		Permian
			Guadalupian	ⓘ Major polymetallic mineralization ~270 Ma Cornwall, England, UK
			Cisuralian	ⓘ Porphyry dikes intruded (latest age) ~275 Ma Cornwall, England, UK ⓘ Greisenization (latest age) ~280 Ma Cornwall, England, UK ⓘ Porphyry dikes intruded (earliest age) ~280 Ma Cornwall, England, UK ⓘ Formation of metallized pegmatites ~285 Ma Cornwall, England, UK ⓘ Greisenization (earliest age) ~285 Ma Cornwall, England, UK ⓘ Emplacement of major plutons ~295 Ma Cornwall, England, UK

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References