Cornish tin’s return will confirm Duchy’s role in a hi-tech world

WE’VE heard it all before, many times. But maybe, just maybe, this time the promises that tin will again be extracted from Cornwall’s South Crofty mine just might come true.

In the past real solid investment cash to turn the dream into reality has been hard to pin down. This time, with £25m coming from a source set up to invest in green-energy related mining operations and a further £15m sought from private investors, the stars may align more smoothly.

There is, of course, one thing that will truly ensure this relaunch of a centuries-old industry in Cornwall comes to fruition – and that is if there is money to be made from it.

Cornish tin may be steeped in history, with mining etched deeply into the Cornish psyche. But in the end, if there is cash to be made people with the funds will invest and the pumps will start pumping and the mine engine will turn again.

Hard cash, not emotion, will be the driving force.

That’s not, of course, to take away from the emotion around mining. Who could forget the closure of South Crofty in March 1998 after 400 years of operation? The graffiti that appeared on a wall nearby summed up a feeling that has become all too deeply felt across much of industrial and coastal Cornwall in the intervening years.

It read: “Cornish lads are fishermen and Cornish lads are miners too, but when the fish and tin are gone what are the Cornish boys to do?”

In truth fishing – while badly hit by Brexit – has had something of a renaissance, with species like Cornish sardines gaining in popularity and smart restaurants fuelling demand for other fish and shellfish caught off the Cornish coast.

Mining, however, looked dead in the water; not so much because the tin had gone, but because extracting it from Cornish rock became just too costly as the price of the metal fell.

Changing technology has forced a rethink though. Metals that once had a role in lining the inside of cans to preserve food are now a key ingredient in everything from solar panels to electric cars.

The price of tin has risen again and – with plenty of it still to dig under Cornwall – the economics are beginning to add up.

Not everyone will be happy to hear that South Crofty might soon be up and running again. Not everyone is delighted either by the efforts now going into extracting another valuable hi-tech metal, lithium.

But aside from those who see

Cornwall as somewhere to retire and perhaps welcome the holidaymakers, the rest of the Duchy and those who live and work in it will welcome the return of tin mining as giving Cornwall another much needed string to its bow.

Modern mining promises to be very different to the dirty and dangerous work of decades ago. And the end product now has a place in helping to move the world from a user of dirty, climate-increasing fossil fuels to one that runs on cleaner energy.

Cornwall has already shown it has a big part to play in that new world. This news means that South Crofty could have a role to play, too.