Tin and Tin Mining

From the bronze age to the present day, man has found numerous uses for tin and its alloys, and has gone to great lengths to extract it from the ground. This book explains why tin minerals are found only in certain places, how and when they were formed, the ways in which deposits were discovered and mined in the past and how and where modern technologies for prospecting are applied. The history and development of mining since earliest times is reviewed, emphasizing the importance of the tin mining region of Cornwall and Devon to the British economy. The changing techniques of exploration, extraction, separation and smelting are examined against a background of evolving scientific understanding and technological advance.

Having obtained a doctorate in geology at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, Dr R. L. Atkinson moved to Cornwall with her husband, also a geologist, to the world famous Camborne School of Mines. In 1972 she became the curator of its Geological Museum, re-establishing it in a new building. Although her interests cover most aspects of geology, living near both ancient and modern mines has lent an extra fascination to her study of how such an important metal was won from beneath the earth.