Levant Mine

Levant Mine
The boilerhouse standing against the whim enginehouse,
the empty pumping enginehouse on the right and the headgear of Skip Shaft behind.
© Copyright John Gibson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

The earliest known record of production for Levant was 10 tons of copper ore in 1793 but steady production wasn`t until 1820 when a small local company operated it. A costbook company ran it between 1872 and 1920 when a limited company was set up and the mine continued to work until 1930. By 1836, 320 men, 44 women and 186 children were employed.

An important copper producer from the beginning the maximum recorded output was over 5,500 ton in 1900 and after 1920 production fell.

Seaward development had started in 1872 and it was this ever-increasing distances of the seaward workings from the land shafts which led to increased production costs. There were plans for a new shaft for development of the deeper ground seawards but these did not bear fruition. Interestingly pit ponies were used in Levant in 1893 on the mile-long tramming level under the sea.

A serious accident occurred on the 20th October 1919 when the man-engine, that the miners used to travel up and down the shaft failed. Thirty-one miners died and a further 19 were injured when the engine rod suddenly broke. A report of the accident can be found here.

UK National Grid reference SW368345