Tolgus Mines - South Wheal Tolgus

The mine was located south of Wheal Tolgus, bounded on its southeast side by Great South Tolgus, on its southern side by Wheal Tehidy. To the southwest lies Wheal Agar whilst to the northwest lies West Tolgus. It operated from 1833 to 1867 and was chiefly a copper mine. Its principal shafts were Rod, New and Michell's (Engine) shaft. It reached its zenith in 1858 producing some 2,780 tons of copper ore with a market value of over £20,000. During its life South Wheal Tolgus produced over 36,000 tons of copper, half a ton of lead ore, 8 tons of zinc ore and even a hundred ounces of silver. Tin output was negligible.

'World Heritage' status has been gained for this area and works should take place in 2008 to connect the mines of Redruth to the Portreath to Devoran (Coast to Coast) Trail via Tolgus. Cornwall in Focus are waiting to see just how the Tolgus mines fit into the mineral tramway framework. See The Mineral Tramway Heritage Project for more details.

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