Rosevale Mine

The Rosevale Mine project is carried out purely as a pastime activity and is funded in-house and through private donation, with the aim of restoring it into a typical small working mine using traditional methods, equipment and materials . The work requires a variety of skills, all of which are undertaken by the team; one of the main on-going activities is maintenance, especially of the timberwork.

Refurbishment work first started in the early 1970s with the clearance of collapsed deads material near the back of No.1 Level. Most of this material was tipped down the main stope into a flooded winze on No.2 Level. Work started on clearing and refurbishing No.2 Level in the late 1970s, with the eventual aim of fully re-equipping this level with track and compressed air pipe. A small second-hand air compressor was purchased in the 1980s and was later replaced by a larger unit . For several years power on site was supplied by a 7KW diesel generator, but this was replaced by mains power in 2009.

Main activities carried out the mine since 1974:

1974 – 1978 Clearing blockages in No.1 Level;

1979 – 1983 Installed ladder-way between No.1 and No.2 Levels;

1979 - 1990 Cleared and refurbished the Deep Adit shaft;

1982 - 1983 Re-timbered the entrance to No.2 Level;

1983 - 1984 Rebuilt the stope platform and chute in No.1 Level;

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1984 – 1987 Laying track and air pipe in No.2 Level;

1988 – 1989 Refurbished the first stope on No.2 Level;

1990 - 1991 Continued clearing and laying track along No.2 Level;

1992 – 1993 Installed timber-work and chutes in No.2 Level;

1994 – 1995 Ran tours of the mine in conjunction with Geevor;

1995 - 1996 Re-open the ventilation raise in No.1 Level;

1997 - 1998 Started to clear the chokage in Deep Adit Level;

1997 – 2004 Driving the new crosscut in No.2 Level;

1999 Trial tours of the mine for members of the public;

1999 - 2000 Carried out a full underground survey of the mine;

2004 – 2005 Blasted the new ladder-way diversion into No.1 Level;

2005 - 2006 Revamped the ladderway through the main stope;

2006 – 2010 Sunk the new winze into Deep Adit;

2010 Cleared vegetation from the dressing floors;

2010 – 2012 Cleared out the downstream blockage in Deep Adit;

2013 – 2014 Started clearing the upstream blockages in Deep Adit;

2014 - 2015 Cleared out the deads pile below the ladderway;

2015 - 2018 Digging out the old winze on No.2 Level;

2018 - 2021 Dug out the collapses near the end of No.2 Level

2022 - Started to dig out the backfilled Deep Adit winze

The project has necessitated the use of conventional mining equipment, when available, and the adaptation of equipment. Where possible the infrastructure of the mine has been refurbished using traditional materials, although the damp underground environment is conducive to the growth of fungus and decay of timbers.

Following a visit by the Association of Industrial Archaeology in 2010 the Rosevale Mine project was presented with the Initiative Award.

Many of the activities carried out at the mine have been filmed by John Potter, who has made several films about various aspects of traditional life in Cornwall, including 'Cornwall's Mining History'. He has produced three 1 hour films on Rosevale: (i) driving the new crosscut; (ii) a general film about the mine; and (iii) sinking of the winze and clearance of the blockage in the Deep Adit.