The Penwith Mining District - Wheal Neptune

OS Explorer Map 102: Grid reference SW541299

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Wheal Neptune is located about a quarter of a mile northeast of Perranuthnoe. It was known to have been at work in 1787, with records showing a sale of 180 tons of copper ore. Possibly idle during the Great Copper Slump in the late eighteenth century, it reopened in 1808 and was worked again until 1838.

The mine worked from Boundary Shaft in the west as well as Polkinghorne's, Morcombe's, Engine and Richard's Shafts. A shaft can still be located in the fields west of the A394, Penzance to Helston Road.

Thomas Spargo gives us a brief insight as to the state of Wheal Neptune in his book of 1865 entitled 'The Mines of Cornwall and Devon; Statistics and Observations'. He reports that Wheal Neptune was, '... in Perranuthnoe, Cornwall. Once a very rich mine; idle many years. A new Company, partly formed, commenced operations about 3 years ago, but failed, for want of capital, to go on with the works underground'.

Production records show that Wheal Neptune produced 1,082 tons of copper ore between 1808 and 1812 and also 13,760 tons of 10% copper ore between 1815 and 1823 and in 1838. This was mainly from Tolvadden Lode, an extension of near by Tolvadden Mine.

For those of you with possibly a little more time to explore, once you've done 'the tourist bit', why not explore Cornwall's industrial heritage through its Tin and Copper Mines or learn more from my Cornish Bookstore