How does Cornish metal mining and British coal mining compare?
In many ways, Cornish hard-rock mining and British coal mining are similar activities. Both are parts of what are called ‘the extractive industries’ and both involve the digging of a mine-shaft to gain access to underground deposits that have to be extracted from the native rock, brought back up to the surface and processed before being transported to market. Both industries were and are regionally concentrated. Coal is found in many places in the UK, but most has come from North-East England, the West Midlands, Central Scotland, Yorkshire and South Wales. Cornwall and Devon are the only places in which tin is found. But there are also big differences. The most important are, first, the value of coal compared with that of tin and copper and, second, the geological conditions in which these different products are found. . Coal is a relatively plentiful, cheap and soft material that is usually found in horizontallayers or seams that also frequently contained explosive gases. Because it w
