South Crofty mine acquires new lease on life

01.04.11

Proposals to restart mining work in west Cornwall have been moved forward following a decision by councillors.

Members of Cornwall Council said they were unanimously expressing their support to grant permission for major new buildings at South Crofty.

Mine owner Western United Mines (WUM) applied to be allowed to build and install modern facilities. It also wants to extend underground working.

The decision comes at the heels of the recent announcement that large deposits of a rare element, used in the liquid crystal displays on televisions, laptops, smart phones and Apple's iPad, was found at South Crofty.

Indium is an important ingredient in the manufacturing of touch-screen technology, and with the rapid growth in the market, indium prices have increased dramatically in the past ten years, peaking at about $800 (about £500) a kilogram, about the same as silver. It is about £550/kg at the moment.

Western United Mines is confident that, if their initial tests are proved correct, they will be able to start digging out millions of pounds of indium, alongside zinc, copper and gold.

Hopes are high that indium mining could create hundreds of jobs in a region hit hard by the demise of an industry that dates back more than 2,000 years. Some even predict a modern-day gold rush.

Kevin Williams, the managing director of WUM, said: "It is a very significant discovery because there is no other UK producer of indium. In fact, very few countries in the world do produce it in any big way." Western Union Mines originally hoped to find commercial quantities of zinc and applied for planning permission for modern processing facilities. It currently employs 60 workers and recently laid off 16 due to delays in securing investment. But it now hopes to employ up to 400 staff within two years.

John Webster, WUM chief operating officer, said: "We found up to 1,000g of indium per tonne in some assays, but generally the average has been about 100g per tonne which is about one kilo every ten tonnes.

"Each kilo is worth about £500 and we estimate we will mine between 250,000 to 400,000 tons per year in the first phase."

George Eustace, the local Conservative MP, said: "This is an exciting time. It may be too early to call it a modern-day gold rush, but let's hope it's an indium rush. Demand for this element keeps growing.

"This would be a state of the art facility and help resurrect mining in Cornwall."