Wheal Jane

Wheal Jane

Wheal Jane was a tin mine near Baldhu and Chacewater in West Cornwall. The area itself consisted of a large number of mines.

History

Wheal Jane was probably seriously worked for tin from the mid 1700s. Given the complexity of ore formation near granitic emplacements, amounts of arsenic, copper, silver and zinc were also worked at some time.

Around 1885, most of the nearby mines became uneconomic. Wheal Jane was able to struggle on for a few years, principally due to its arsenic revenue, but it too succumbed around 1895. It re-opened in 1906 as part of Falmouth Consolidated, with a modernisation and cost reducing agenda, but it was to close again within a decade. Work recommenced at low intensity in the run up to World War II but interest was turning to more modern processing techniques to recover more tin from what was already available and the old mine spoil was re-worked until 1946.

It was re-opened again in 1969 and much development work was done underground and in improving the surface processing facilities and ownership eventually passed to Rio Tinto Zinc.

Like the remainder of Cornwall's tin mines (Geevor, Pendarves and South Crofty), it was dealt a body blow by the end of the International Tin Agreement in 1985 and the subsequent collapse of the world tin price. It never really recovered and the pumps were finally switched off in 1992.

Aftermath

Wheal Jane was not out of the news though; these were the days before Environmental Impact Assessments. With the pumps no longer de-watering the mine, groundwater levels rose and flooded the former working areas, picking up waste, washing over the exposed rock faces and contaminating the groundwater.

These eventually overtopped the drainage systems in 1992/1993 and acid mine drainage rose through the abandoned mine and escaped into the surface water systems flowed into the Carnon Valley and eventually into Falmouth Bay, killing fish and contaminating wild fowl. By 1994, remedial measures were in place.

ee also

*Mining in Cornwall
*Camborne School of Mines
*List of topics related to Cornwall

External links

* [http://www.wheal-jane.co.uk/ Wheal Jane Group]
* [http://www.projects.ex.ac.uk/geomincentre/estuary/Main/jane.htm Water quality degradation in the Carnon Valley]
* [http://biology.bangor.ac.uk/~bsr003/pages/WhealJaneProject.html More on acid mine drainage (AMD) at Wheal Jane]
* [http://homepages.tesco.net/~k.wasley/Wheal_Jane.htm Wheal Jane]
* [http://www.cornwall-calling.co.uk/mines/carnon-valley/wheal-jane.htm Wheal Jane Mine, Cornwall]
* [http://www.mining-europe.de/gallery/cornwall/whealjane.htm Wheal Jane photos]
* [http://www.cornish-mining.org.uk/story/20.htm Cornish Mining History]
* [http://crocat.cornwall.gov.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=((text)='wheal%20jane') Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Wheal Jane]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Wheal (disambiguation) — The word wheal could refer to: *the Wheal swelling of the skin left by a blow (eg being whipped) or as part of an allergic reaction (also referred to as a welt). *the Cornish language word for a mine, and thus is a part of the names of many tin… …   Wikipedia

  • Mining in Cornwall and Devon — Ruin of Cornish tin mine …   Wikipedia

  • South Crofty — s.HistorySouth Crofty Mine, at Pool between Camborne and Redruth, is an ancient tin mine. For several centuries its shallow workings exploited copper rather than the deeper tin mineralisation. References implying mining, rather than streaming,… …   Wikipedia

  • Mining in Cornwall — first began in the early Bronze Age approximately 2,150 BC and ended with the South Crofty tin mine closing in 1998.HistoryMining in Cornwall has existed from the early Bronze Age around 2,150 B.C. Cornwall is thought to have been visited by… …   Wikipedia

  • Acid mine drainage — Yellow boy in a stream receiving acid drainage from surface coal mining. Acid mine drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD), refers to the outflow of acidic water from (usually abandoned) metal mines or coal mines. However, other areas where… …   Wikipedia

  • List of topics related to Cornwall — This is a list of topics related to Cornwall, United Kingdom. The contains a more comprehensive selection of Cornish articles.Architecture*Royal Albert Bridge *Tamar Bridge * *Cornwall Railway viaducts *Tate St Ives *Eden Project *Jamaica Inn… …   Wikipedia

  • I.A.Recordings — [http://www.iarecordings.org/ I.A.Recordings] was founded in 1982 by a small group of volunteers, to record past and present industries on film and video, as a resource for Industrial Archaeology ( I.A. ).When possible, they capture the processes …   Wikipedia

  • Inspector Barnaby — Seriendaten Deutscher Titel Inspector Barnaby Originaltitel Midsomer Murders …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Midsomer Murders — Seriendaten Deutscher Titel: Inspector Barnaby Originaltitel: Midsomer Murders Produktionsland: Großbritannien Produktionsjahr(e): seit 1997 Produzent: Brian True May Episodenlänge …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Continuity announcers in the United Kingdom — In the United Kingdom, continuity announcers are people who are employed to introduce programmes on radio and television networks, to promote forthcoming programmes on the station, to cross promote programmes on the broadcaster s other stations… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”