This is surely the result of some one getting the wrong end of the stick.
There were lots of tinplate works in south Wales, for the simple reason that
iron (and later steel) were made there, and tinplate only has a thin coating
of tin, being mostly iron or steel.

Copper, and spelter (zinc) were certainly smelted, and I expect that if the
precious metal content of the ores was adequate to warrant it, gold and
silver would have been extracted.

Tin from Cornwall would not have been smelted in south Wales.  This had to
be done in Cornwall, because of the rules on "coinage" - a tax payable to
the Duchy on tin.  The economics of copper production meant that it was
better to take the ore to the coal than vice versa; hence the Swansea and
Neath copper industry.

Peter King
49, Stourbridge Road,
Hagley,
Stourbridge
West Midlands
DY9 0QS
01562-720368
[log in to unmask]


-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Keith Nicholls
Sent: 07 March 2010 08:53
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Tin mining Port Talbot


Dave

At risk of being proven wrong.....as a born and  bred native of  Swansea
and a geologist - it is my opinion that no mining of any tin ever
occurred in or around Port Talbot( wrong rocks!). A short distance east
there is some gold and lead / zinc mineralization (in the Carboniferous
Limestone, but I'm not aware of it ever having been commercially
exploited).

Port Talbot is sited on the coast, on the Lower Coal Measures. Mining in
the vicinity is limited to coal and associated  minerals (black band
ironstone etc).

Tin was imported to the Swansea area from Cornwall for smelting, and
it's possible that some form of smelting operation may have been tried
at Post Talbot (later home of course to a large steel works).

Tin plating may have been attempted also - although subsequently this
was carried out near Llanelli (Trostre).

Keith Nicholls

-----Original Message-----
From: mining-history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Dave Linton
Sent: 06 March 2010 04:16 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Tin mining Port Talbot

I'm passing on a query that has been made to me. The only tin-related
connection I can think of is the south Wales tin-plating industry. Can
anyone help with this?

Dave

> I apologise for bothering you with what I consider to be a minor query
but during some research I have been carrying out on  Cornish mine
quarrys it was suggested to me that there once existed tin mines in the
Port Talbot /general Neath area of S Wales.I personally can find no
evidence of the existance of such Industrial mining sites & believe it
to be a myth I dont suppose your organisation has any evidence to the
contrary .
> Grateful for any light you could shed on the matter.
--
Dave Linton
01341 280901

This email has been scanned for viruses by Netshield MXSweep.
Geotechnics Limited, Registered in England No. 1757790 at The Geotechnical
Centre, 203 Torrington Avenue, Tile Hill, Coventry CV4 9AP
www.geotechnics.co.uk