The last ingot smelted from the last ore mined from Britain’s last tin mine is up for auction.
The ingot – a solid block of metal – was extracted and purified from the finishing consignment on the final day of mining at South Crofty in 1998.
This object is symbolically and historically significant because it’s the last product from the very end of Britain’s tin mining industry – making it a ‘closing chapter’ item and extremely valuable to collectors, historians, or museums.
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Tin mining in Britain pre-dates the Roman invasion and was once a thriving industry.
Cornwall was the UK’s tin capital and was home to hundreds of tin mines at the industry’s peak.
But it gradually declined as prices dropped and foreign competition grew.
There have been no working tin mines in Britain for over 25 years.
Now the last ingot of tin from the former mine in Pool, near Redruth, Cornwall, is being sold, as reported by What’s The Jam.
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Auctioneer David Lay said: “There is fanatical interest in industrial history.
“This is Cornish tin smelted and refined in Cornwall.”
The whole process has taken place at Wheal Jane Laboratory in Truro.
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Director Clifford Rice added: “It’s a celebration of hundreds of years of Cornish tin mining.
“It’s the last ingot from the last ore from the last mine in Britain.”
The final ingot weighs 28lb and has a traditional lamb and flag hot mark and a new Wheal jane hot mark too.
It is being sold together with a framed certificate of authenticity and a jar of concentrate by Lays Auctioneers with a guide price of £5,000.
All proceeds will go to the Children’s Hospice South West.
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