A previous blog item entitled “The Last Cornish Tin Smelter” back in March included plans to smelt the last South Crofty tin concentrate from ore mined in 1998 using a single new hot mark “WHEAL JANE MINE BALDHU – SOUTH CROFTY TIN”. These 10kg ingots are being produced for the South Crofty Collection jewellery business and will eventually be processed into quality jewellery items. The production of these ingots has now largely been completed with only limited concentrate stocks remaining.

However, the volume of interest raised from the article, and the historic importance of what will almost certainly be the last significant quantities of Cornish tin smelted in Cornwall, has prompted a further plan. To commemorate the end of a historic tradition, a limited edition run of tin ingots will be smelted with two hot marks in the traditional Cornish pattern. One will be the new hot mark described above and the other will be an original “Lamb & Flag” hot mark. The ingots will weigh approximately 28lb (12.7kg), which is the traditional size from the 19^th century, and will be available to collectors in early 2025.

Even if South Crofty mine restarts production in the next few years or other Cornish mines re-open in the future, it is extremely unlikely that commercial tin smelting will resume in Cornwall. Therefore, by producing collectable ingots from the last Cornish tin, from the last Cornish tin mine, with the last Cornish hot mark, Cornwall’s mining legacy will be preserved for posterity.