Tin mining could RETURN to Cornwall by 2020 — with a site set to generate £80million worth of metal a year
Up to 1,000 jobs are expected to be created in Pool, near Redruth
TIN mining could return to Cornwall by 2020 — with a site potentially generating more than £80million worth of the metal yearly.
Mining firm STRONGBOW EXPLORATION said it will cost £95million to re-start production at the South Crofty mine, which closed in 1998.
But Brit Richard Williams, chief executive of the Canadian firm, said it could recoup it in less than four years.
He said he expects the mine to run for at least eight years, but it has a licence until 2071 and could go for decades.
Up to 1,000 jobs are expected to be created at the mine in Pool, near Redruth.
Last year Strongbow revealed it was looking at mining for tin in the area, home to TV series Poldark, starring Aidan Turner.
But in a report released to the Toronto Stock Exchange, it revealed there is now a compelling economic case for doing so.
Mr Williams, originally from Neath in South Wales, said: “The report we have put out validates from an independent perspective that the project looks economic.”
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He added: “South Crofty had been a mine for 400 years, so that gave us confidence it could be a mine again.
“There was clear evidence we could give it a much longer life.”
It could take two years to remove water from the mine, but it should eventually generate up to 5,000 tons a year with potential revenues of £85.9million annually by the third year.
The mining of tin, found in iPhones, TVs and dishwashers, stopped in UK in the late 1990s because of cheap imports from Malaysia.
Mr Williams said: "The knock-on from this is if we can get South Crofty into production it really demonstrates to other investors that Cornwall is a place you can invest, you can build a mine.
“It will be a big boost to the economy, training, higher paid jobs.”
Strongbow revealed last month it was part of a group looking at mining for lithium in Cornwall in the coming years.